


Consanguinity

by RegalGirl94



Series: Blood [6]
Category: Grimm (TV)
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Eventual Romance, F/M, Friendship/Love, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, kind of crossover
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2020-01-31 12:05:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 53,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18590938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RegalGirl94/pseuds/RegalGirl94
Summary: Lena Kühn-Sato is a lot of things that she's aware of, and plenty of things she's not. She's an orphan, a midwife, and a widow looking to start anew in Portland with the last remaining family she has. But she's also wesen, and something else. Nick Burkhardt is a police officer, and a Grimm. Monroe is blutbad, Rosalee is fuchsbau. Will they be able to help Lena get the answers?





	1. Keep Portland Weird

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is a Grimm fanfiction connected to my Teen Wolf series, Blood. Nick is Jessie's distant Grimm cousin with whom she lived after becoming a vampire at the end of Blood for Battle. I decided to write a fic for Grimm as well. It's not a crossover, but there will be some guest spots and mentions of Teen Wolf characters, and perhaps visa versa as well.

 

Lena hated the rain. It was cold and wet, and she liked to be warm and dry. She didn't think she'd ever find herself driving through Portland on one of the rainiest days in January, when she used to live in sunny and  _dry_ Arizona. But she couldn't stand Arizona either anyway. She was looking to make a fresh start after months trying to heal, and her Uncle decided to use the opportunity to convince her to move closer to him in Portland. He said he even found the perfect little house in the woods, so she could have total privacy.

So, she'd packed up her SUV with as little of the things that she owned as possible and took off for Portland as soon as she could quit work and get the house sold. She also had to sell all of her furniture as well as other junk. She was starting ever with as clean a slate as possible. It was difficult. She couldn't let some things go. And it took longer than she'd anticipated. Months even. She'd barely spoken to her Uncle in the time between, but they'd emailed back and forth, and he promised he'd have everything ready for her when she arrived.

But now, here she was, rolling into town in her weighed down car and almost out of gas. She pulled into the first station that she found. She got out to pump her own gas but was startled when an attendant jogged out to do it for her. She forgot that Portland didn't have self-service gas stations everywhere. But she calmly handed him the necessary cash and pulled back onto the road once he was done with his job.

The rain had teetered off by the time she reached her Uncle's shop. She knew he'd be in at this time in the afternoon, instead of his apartment. Her lips felt achy when she used them to smile for the first time in a long time when she saw the gold lettering on her Uncle's glass door – Exotic Spice & Tea Shop – and the little open sign hanging underneath it. The little bell rang as she pushed the door open and she could smell all the different aromas wafting through the air of it. She remembered Uncle Freddy giving her the tour, telling her what everything was and how to it was used and what for. She didn't remember much – she was little at the time. She hadn't been in Portland since she was seven.

When she settled her eyes on the counter, she was surprised to see a woman behind the counter. Here Uncle always manned the store himself. He used to joke about taking her on as an apprentice, but he'd never taken on an employee before. She always found that strange. It put a damper on his social life. But he told her that he didn't need one.

The woman was pretty in a domestic way. She was tan, average height, with dark brown hair to her shoulders and straight bangs across her forehead. She seemed kind as she smiled and greeted Lena, "Hi, how can I help you?"

"Um…" Lena hadn't planned to interact with anyone else. "I'm looking for Uncle Freddy. Is he in the back or something?"

The woman frowned with a mixture of confusion and, if Lena wasn't mistaken, grief. "I'm sorry… who are you?"

"Freddy's niece," she answered back. Wasn't that part obvious? "I'm Lena… you?"

The woman only seemed more confused, "I'm sorry but maybe you have the wrong place, or wrong Freddy. I'm his sister. We don't have any nieces…"

This time, Lena was the one who was confused, "He didn't mention any sisters to me either. But, um, I'm not his niece by blood. He was close with my father. Anyway, is he here?"

This time, without the confusion on the woman's face, there was only a touch of grief. "I'm – erm, sorry to have to tell you this, but… Freddy was killed in a store robbery a few months ago."

Lena wasn't ready to hear this. She wasn't prepared. She was never prepared for news like this. Such was obvious by the stricken expression taking over her face. But then it was crossed with confusion. "What? That's not possible."

The woman frowned deeply, seeming just as upset by the news, even though she knew beforehand. "I'm sorry, but it's true. Some junkies broke in for drugs and shot him. They've been caught and convicted since. I would have informed you, but I'm sorry, I didn't talk to Freddy very much, he never told me about you."

Lena wasn't really listening. "That's not possible…"

The woman noticed that she seemed unsteady all of the sudden and rushed around the counter to take her arms in her hands. "Why don't you sit down?" She led her through a door off to the left into another room and sat her down on a small bed. "Can I get you something? Some water?"

"Some real answers would be nice," she snapped. "Freddy told me to move here. He was all I had left. And we've been emailing the last few months about a house he found for me out here. So, if he's been dead, who has been emailing me?"

The woman seemed just as puzzled as she was. "I don't – I don't know. My brother has definitely been dead, that's why I came here and took over the shop for him." She paused and tried to put on a calming smile. "I'm Rosalee Calvert. You said your name was Lena?"

"Yeah," Lena replied shortly, her eyes unfocused on the floor.

"I'm sorry you had to find out this way," whispered Rosalee, laying her hands on top of Lena's on her knees. "I can try and look through Freddy's things to find out where this house is. But in the meantime, you're welcome to stay here at the shop."

Len scoffed, laying her head in her hands, "I have some jobs lined up. So, I should be able to find a place for my own."

Rosalee watched the younger woman closely as tears started to leak out of her eyes. She thought she saw a slight ripple underneath Lena's skin. And it felt colder in the room all of the sudden. When Lena pulled her face up to wipe under her eyes, Rosalee saw them glowing amber. The same color as hers when she woged. This woman was wesen. What kind, she didn't know. But she was.

"I know we just met, and you probably have no reason to trust me, but if you and Freddy were close and he was helping you, then I want to help you too," Rosalee said. Maybe her brother was protecting this woman from something. Maybe she was in danger. "Now, did Freddy tell you anything about this house, what area it was?"

Lena shrugged, "Secluded, in the woods somewhere. No address. That was better for me. But… if you say Freddy has been dead for months, it's possible that whoever said they found that house for me, wasn't Freddy. You said junkies killed him? That wasn't cover for something shadier?"

Rosalee nodded, "Yeah, I'm actually friends with the detective who worked the case. But, um…" Should she tell her about some of the things she'd found out about her brother? She sat up on the bed next to Lena and finally spoke, "My boyfriend, Monroe, and I did find some passports for him under false names. And Nick, our friend who's a cop, told me that Freddy had been mixed up in some illegal organ selling here at the shop. So… I really have no idea who could have been posing as him."

"Fuck," Lena cursed. "Great. He's the only reason I came to Portland."

"Look, I know we just met, but I don't have family here, or much family left," Rosalee told her. "And if you and Freddy thought of each other as family, then why don't you stick around in Portland and we can get to know each other?" She had to find a way to figure out what kind of wesen this girl was, and why Freddy considered her his niece. She didn't know of any close friend of her brother's enough to think of their kids as family. Freddy was always a bit of a loner. But if he was protecting Lena, then that's what she had to try to do too.

Lena had no idea what to think about this woman claiming to be her Uncle's sister, wanting to help and get to know her. She didn't know if she could handle more family after losing what she had lost. But she also didn't want to seem rude or ungrateful. And, it seemed Rosalee was grieving too. "I'd like that. But, I think I'll opt for a motel. I feel like this place might creep me out at night."

Rosalee chuckled, "I understand that. Did you have a lot to unpack?"

Lena shook her head, "I sold almost everything I owned. Just boxes of clothes and keepsakes in my car."

"Well, I can help you find a place," Rosalee offered. "Do you have any job prospects?"

"I'm a midwife," she answered. "I have a couple clients lined up. Word of mouth will kick in and business will pick up eventually."

"That's nice," Rosalee commented just as the bell rang at the door. She excused herself to go help the customer, only to see that it was Nick and Monroe walking in. She rushed to stop them from launching into some gory wesen talk so they didn't startle Lena. "Hi, guys, you should meet our guest."

Monroe frowned, "Guest?"

Rosalee nodded, eyes wide, trying to signal for them to be smart and delicate. She led them into the other room where Lena was wiping her eyes and gestured to the woman, "Lena, this is Monroe, and our friend Nick."

"Monroe Dietrich," Monroe put out his hand as Lena stood and shook it gingerly.

"Nick Burkhart," Nick quickly offered her his hand. He could tell that she'd been crying and was still upset over something. He tried to smile, open and friendly.

"Lena Kühn-Sato," Lena introduced herself shortly as she shook his hand.

He narrowed his eyes slightly when he noticed the gold ring on her left hand but figured that wasn't any of his business.

But then Rosalee asked, "Kühn-Sato? That's a unique surname."

"Used to be just Kühn, but I hyphenated it with my husband's name," Lena said curtly.

Rosalee furrowed her brow and peered out the window for a man she hadn't noticed, "Your husband…?"

"Passed away last year," Lena answered quietly.

Rosalee sagged, feeling so much sympathy for this woman, "I'm sorry to hear that."

Nick was watching Lena's face as she cringed at Rosalee's words and noticed some shifting under the skin of her cheek and forehead. When she looked up at him, her eyes were glowing amber.

Lena hadn't wanted to divulge so much to these strangers. But she knew the more secretive and defensive you acted, the more people pried. When she averted her eyes from Rosalee's sympathy, she inadvertently locked eyes with the guy, Nick. And when she did, she saw his eyes turn a deep and complete black, like two black holes that she could see her reflection in. if she remembered only one thing her father and Uncle had ever said to her, it was –  _if you see black eyes, run. They will kill you._

When she saw Nick's black eyes, she instantly recoiled in fear and indignation, "What the hell!?"

Nick shared a look with Monroe and Rosalee, and the store tender stepped between Lena and the men with her hands up defensively, "Lena, it's okay. Nick won't hurt you."

"Yeah, yeah, he's not like other Grimms," Monroe chipped in, having seen the changed in Lena's face too.

Lena looked at them with confusion and outrage, "Grimm? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Grimm, like the stories," Monroe babbled. "They're supposed to kill wesen, but Nick is different. He's a cop."

"Wesen?" Lena echoed. She had no idea what these people were talking about. They sounded crazy. And for all she knew, Rosalee was lying about being Freddy's sister. She had never heard about her before. She didn't know that she could trust any of them. "This was a mistake." She launched through them before they could react and was out the door without another word.

"Lena, wait!" Rosalee called out to her, following her out onto the street. But she wasn't fast enough and could only watch as Lena jumped into her car and drove off. She heaved a sigh as Monroe came up behind her and kneaded her shoulders.

Nick flushed as they walked back inside, "I'm sorry guys. I didn't mean to scare her."

"It's not your fault," Rosalee sagged. "She didn't even seem to know what Grimm and wesen are."

"Yeah, how is that possible?" Nick asked, having noticed Lena's confusion.

"I don't know, because I saw her start to woge," Rosalee explained. "Earlier, when I told her Freddy was dead."

"She knew Freddy?" Monroe asked.

"Apparently, he's was as good as her Uncle, being friends with her father," Rosalee explained. "He never mentioned her to me, but then again, we weren't close. She told me that Freddy convinced her to move here, but also said that he'd been emailing her recently. We all know that's impossible."

"Then who's been contacting her?" Monroe asked, frowning in worry now.

"Someone wanted to lure her to Portland," Nick thought out loud. "But why?" He thought for a moment to the altercation that had just occurred. "Is it possible that  _she_ doesn't know she's wesen?"

Rosalee and Monroe shared a look of equal disbelief, the blutbad answered skeptically, "I've never heard of that level of denial. It's not really something you miss."

"You can ignore it, you can try to suppress it," Rosalee added, thinking of the dark lengths she'd gone to in her youth to deny her wesen side. "But you can't grow up completely ignorant of it."

"I don't know, guys…" Nick trailed off. "She seemed genuinely confused by what we were talking about. But she saw that I was a Grimm. She just didn't seem to know the word."

"Well, it's scary enough to see a Grimm and know what you are," Monroe commented. "It might be pretty freaky if, hypothetically, someone didn't know what they are or what a Grimm is and see what you are without any knowledge of it."

"Wait," Nick cut in as something finally occurred to him, "how do wesen recognize a Grimm? I see them woge, but I don't woge and they still seem to know what I am when I see what they are."

"Dude, your eyes," Monroe shivered at the memory of the first time he'd seen Nick and knew he was a Grimm. "They go completely black. It's like staring into a terrifying void of darkness. It's the stuff of my nightmares as a kid."

"I can't believe I never thought to ask that before," Nick commented.

Rosalee was chewing her lip, "All of this positing can wait. We need to think about Lena. We have no idea why she was lured here, or why Freddy might have been protecting her. She has no one else, and I don't think she has anywhere else to go. We might need to explain things to her."

Nick scoffed, "I can't imagine she's going to react well to that conversation. You saw how fast she ran off."

"Yeah, but we may not have a choice if she is wesen and doesn't know it," Monroe said. "I don't know how that would be possible, but I can imagine it would be very dangerous."

"It's healthy for us to accept what we are and woge," Rosalee said. "Woging never, or too much, is very bad for someone like us."

"Okay, so what do we do?" Nick asked them.

Rosalee pursed her lips in thought. She had to find out more about what Freddy was doing for Lena. She had to find out what dangers could be following the woman. "Nick, I need you to try and track her down. Just so we know where she is and that she's safe. She has work here so she isn't going to skip town. She mentioned finding a motel to stay in until she finds a place. I'll go through Freddy's books and try to see if I can find some kind of record of his relationship with her and her father. Maybe there'll be answers about why he wanted her in Portland, or who else could have wanted her in Portland."

Nick hesitated. "Is it really best for  _me_ to be the one to find her? I mean, I'm the one that sent her running. Maybe Monroe can… sniff her out."

Monroe gave his friend an insulted look, "Dude – you're the cop. You can track her car or something, call motels and it won't be suspicious. I'll look like a creepy stalker."

"Please Nick," Rosalee plead sternly.

Nick reluctantly nodded and said his goodbyes before leaving the spice shop.

* * *

Lena drove around for a while, in circles. She had no idea what she saw. All she knew was that it was dangerous. His eyes turned completely, harrowing black. And she could see her face in them. It almost looked like… her eyes were glowing. But that wasn't possible. She just had to get away from them.

She pulled into the first motel she saw and checked in for a day or two stay. She hid her boxes of belongings under a tarp in the back of her car and brought in her small suitcase with her into the room. She had no idea what she was going to do. Hopefully Portland was big enough that she wouldn't run into those crazy people again. She would find a modest apartment, continue her practice and hope for the best. She really didn't have the resources to try and move again.

By the time night fell, her stomach was screaming at her to find something to eat. She hadn't had anything since her last pit stop that morning. She made her way to her car to get something at a drive-thru, but she paused at the door when she felt like eyes were on the back of her neck. It made goosebumps break out all over her skin. But when she turned to look, all she saw were empty cars in the dark motel parking lot.

When she saw no one, she got in her car and drove away.

What she didn't notice was Nick and Monroe picking up to follow her.

Nick had quickly tracked her car to its parking spot outside the Motel 6 just a few miles from his house. So, he dragged Monroe out of the spice shop to go stake out the motel and see what room she came out of. When they saw her walking out to her car, it was almost as if she knew they were watching. The way she looked around as they ducked down, she looked paranoid, scared. Maybe she knew someone was after her.

"Where is she going?" Monroe asked. "She looks worried."

"Maybe she's running," Nick said quickly as he started his car and made to follow her stealthily.

"Dude, what are we supposed to do when it comes time to stop stalking and start talking to her?" Monroe asked testily. He drummed his fingers on the dashboard. "I mean, we'll have to tell her everything. Especially if she doesn't already know." He was quiet for a moment as they silently followed Lena's car. Nick was concentrating on not losing her. After another moment, Monroe compulsively continued talking, "And I have no idea how it would be possible for her to get this far and just  _not know_ that she's wesen. I mean, she looks the same age as you do. We saw her eyes glowing, but just not the rest of whatever she is. She must have really good control."

"Maybe she does know she's different, she just doesn't know what to call it," Nick suggested. "That could possible, right?"

"I don't know any wesen parent that would be irresponsible enough to not explain it to her," Monroe said. "Maybe she really has no idea. I've heard of wesen in the foster system, have no idea what they are, and end up attacking people. But… they usually don't make it very far, age wise. And by what Rosalee was saying, Freddy's known this girl her whole life."

"Yeah, has she found anything yet?" Nick asked as they turned around a corner. Lena seemed to be driving a little aimlessly. Like she didn't know where she was going. Maybe she was running.

Monroe sighed and shook his head, "Not yet. Freddy wasn't really organized. And he hid the shady business. We still haven't found out more about those weird passports. Or why he needed them. We should just focus more on explaining what we  _do_ know to Lena."

Nick followed the car ahead of them with his eyes before he noticed she was pulling into a McDonalds parking lot. Guess she wasn't running. He pulled over into the parking lot and waited for her to make it through.

"Have you heard from Jessie?" Monroe asked. Jessica was Nick's cousin on the Grimm side. She was also half-vampire on her father's side. Nick hadn't even known she existed. She hadn't known about him either until she started finding out more about her biological parents, having been adopted as a baby when her parents were killed.

One night, out of the blue, he was preparing to propose to Juliette when some strangers burst into their house carrying Jessica, who looked like she was dying. One was an old woman named Sienna, who revealed she was also from the Grimm side of the family, distant cousin to his mom and Aunt Marie. The other was a young man named Alex, not a Grimm but aware of the weirder side of life. He called himself a Hunter, said he killed dangerous things.

They had explained that Jessie was his cousin and that she was half-vampire, but that she'd been attacked and was dying. The only way to save her life was to push her through the full vampire transformation. But she couldn't stay where she was. She was living in Beacon Hills, California. But it was dangerous for her to stay there while she transformed, so Alex packed her up, met with Sienna, and they drove straight to Portland.

Juliette had been beside herself with outraged confusion when they came in with a bleeding, dirty girl. But once Sienna started explaining about who Jessica was, Nick just tried to convince his girlfriend to help them and not call for an ambulance.

Then of course, some guy named Connor showed up the day after the others had. He claimed that his family were Guardians, who protected certain powerful beings with great destinies. He and his older brother, Gavin, were such guardians. But Gavin was guarding someone in California. Connor had been assigned to Jessica. When Nick asked who put out these assignments, Connor explained that their mother was a powerful Oracle, and decided who had important destinies and doled out assignments to her sons and other guardians like them.

When Jessica woke up, she almost attacked Juliette with bloodlust, being out of control. When Juliette saw her eyes glowing bright cobalt blue – vampires were the type of supernatural that anyone could see transformed – she lost it, and Nick was forced to tell her all about being a Grimm and wesen and everything.

She had then left. And he hadn't seen her since she came for her things, told him that he could keep the house, and to not call her or try to find her. He had been devastated.

But he had also been distracted by Jessie and her struggle. Alex tried to coach her through finding an anchor – he still had very little clue what that meant – but it hadn't worked. Her eyes were always glowing, her teeth were always sharp, and apparently vampires had telekinesis because she had uncontrollably rearranged the whole house almost every night. It was Sienna and Connor who helped in the end, by telling her that vampires could shut off their emotions in order to gain control of their abilities. From then on, Jessie was practically a robot.

But she took well to being told about wesen, only having experience with a whole separate branch of supernatural creatures like the classic werewolves. But that didn't matter much. She was resilient all of the sudden and readily absorbed all the information he threw at her, revealing her eidetic memory.

She even went out and helped him, Hank, and Monroe with wesen issues. Her and Alex. To Nick, it was rather obvious that Alex was completely in love with Jessica, and that she didn't feel the same way. He had gotten Alex to confess that he had met Jessie under duplicitous circumstances and fallen for her, but her heart always belonged to someone else.

Nick and Jessie had been able to form some sort of bond. As well as they could with her emotions locked away. She lived with him in the guest room for while in Portland, so they spent a lot of time together. She told him all about her friends who were werewolves and what they had fought in Beacon Hills. And about her mother who was from the Grimm family, and her father who was a descendent of Dracula. About how they were assassinated just for being together and having her, by her mother's family no less. He had told her all about his Aunt Marie's death and how he thought he was going crazy when he started seeing wesen. About all the 'adventures' since then.

Everything had kind of fallen apart when 'something' killed Alex while they were all out tracking a crazed lowen. Jessie had been beside herself, screaming her head off. The grief had triggered her emotions again and it took three days for them to coach her back into robot mode.

Soon after that, Jessie claimed she heard her friend Lydia scream. Apparently, she was a banshee, and with her vampire hearing, she picked it up even from Beacon Hills. Her friends were in trouble and she had to go back. Nick made damn sure she was okay first before he let Connor take her back to California.

He hadn't had much contact with her, like his mother. But she made sure to keep in touch and let him know that she was okay. Only recently, she had told him that there was a deadpool out in Beacon Hills with every supernatural person's name on it, and any assassin who got a hold of the list were gunning for them for the decent payout. And of course, her name was tied for highest payoff. She had contacted him to ask how blacklist wire transfers worked and if he could track down the Benefactor – the sicko who started the whole thing – through a cassette tape with instructions on it.

He had done what he could to get her information and pass it on, but he still worried. He had entertained taking some time off to go down and help her, but she had insisted she and her friends had it covered and that he needed to stay put in Portland unless he ended up in danger being in Beacon Hills as a Grimm.

That had been a week ago.

"Not since the last time," Nick finally answered as they saw Lena make it through the drive-thru and started following her back towards the motel. "If I don't hear from her in the next few days, I'll call Connor."

"Good," Monroe said. "Now we should really focus on what we're going tell Lena."

"Nothing," Nick said. "We're not telling her anything until we talk to Rosalee and see if she's found anything at all. We need to be smart about this. We don't want to scare her out of Portland if someone is after her."

"Right," Monroe murmured.

They followed her back to the motel and instead of parking, they kept on driving until they were back at the spice shop.

"There you are!" Rosalee called out from the side room when they walked in. "I found Freddy's computer and a journal he kept. The computer has all sorts of emails back and forth between her. Then I thought to search under her surname Kühn to see what else came up, and there was a man, Tomas Kühn. I think he was her father. But any contact with him stopped almost twenty years ago. And I couldn't find anything about a mother in there."

"Okay, what about the journal?" Nick asked.

Rosalee's face grew grim, "That's where it gets… weird."

"Weirder than a wesen that doesn't know she's a wesen?" Monroe commented.

Rosalee nodded slowly, opening up a leather-bound journal onto the table in the side room. Inside there were polaroid photos of a young girl that looked like Lena throughout pages of journal entries. "Freddy was friends with Tomas Kühn. They met when they were in High School. I don't remember him, but Freddy was a lot older than me. When Tomas had Lena, he knew she'd be in danger. He made Freddy promise to watch out for her if anything happened to him. Which it did. He was assassinated. She went into Foster care because Freddy didn't have any legal claim to her and wasn't approved as a foster parent. But he kept in touch, kept track of her." She flipped through the pages, "I can't find anything that says  _who_ is after her, or who killed Tomas, but…" she trailed off in fear, "he refers to Lena in the journal, as the hybrid."

"A hybrid?" Monroe guffawed in shock.

Nick looked between them, "What's a hybrid?"

Rosalee look at him, "The child of two different wesen. They're not all that rare nowadays, but back when  _she_ would have been born, they were unheard of."

"Her very existence was dangerous back then," Monroe said. "Even now, the wesen community has a lot of purists out there who believe wesen shouldn't intermingle and mix. She very well could have been hunted down as a child."

"That's why Freddy was protecting her," Rosalee said. "Tomas was a fuchsbau, like me. But Freddy makes no mention of what Lena's mother was."

"That explains her eyes," Nick said. "They glowed like yours, the same color and everything. And I could see  _something_ like trying to come out, but it didn't. Just her eyes."

"We don't know what her full form could look like," Rosalee said. "She's only half fuchsbau. We have no idea what the other half is or how it presents. And now I know that she genuinely has no idea what she is or that she isn't even human."

Monroe gaped, "How is that possible?"

Rosalee flipped to a page in the journal that held some sort of recipe on it, "Freddy has been brewing interius celare bestia."

Monroe seemed completely taken aback by this, and almost enraged.

Nick was just confused. "What is that, Latin?"

Rosalee grimly nodded, "Yes. It means 'to hide the beast inside.' It's a tea brew invented during the 1600s witchtrials by a group of hexenbeists to give to the younger wesen to suppress the woge. It's dangerous for the wesen, but it was a desperate measure for desperate times."

"Why is it dangerous?" Nick said. "If you could  _not_ woge, wouldn't that protect you from  _other_ Grimms over the centuries?"

"Woging is who we are," Monroe pressed. "Suppressing it is just downright unhealthy. A lot of the kids who took it ended up getting sick and dying before they reached their thirties. Luckily, the witch trials ended, and the tea wasn't standard practice. Some countries have even banned the use of it entirely. It borders on child abuse to a lot of people."

"If it makes wesen sick, then how has she been drinking it her whole life?" Nick asked. "She seemed completely healthy even if she was upset."

Rosalee was at a loss for the most part. "I don't know, but I think Freddy figured out how to give it to her safely. She must have been in real danger if he went so far as to give her interius celare bestia."

"That means that as impossible as it is," Monroe cut in, "she really has no idea who she is."

"And if Freddy hasn't been around to give her the tea, she could start woging out anytime," Rosalee said. "According to the journal, he made it into tea bags for her and sent it to her for Christmas every year. But she obviously didn't get any this year, and who knows how long she's gone without."

"So, we need to explain things to her and quickly," Nick thought out loud.

Rosalee nodded, "Did you find her?"

"Yeah, she's staying at a motel near my house," Nick said. "But she's not going to be safe there if she's in danger like you say she is. She needs to be somewhere we can watch over her."

"But where?" Monroe asked. "It's not like we have a lot of room and being surrounded by wesen may not be all that amendable to her once she finds out the truth."

"But…" Rosalee trailed off, looking over at Nick, "maybe a cop would make her feel safe."

Monroe caught on and started looking at Nick expectantly too.

Nick balked at them, "Guys, I don't know…"

"She has no one else, Nick," Rosalee beseeched. "She's a widow, an orphan, Freddy was the only real family she had. She doesn't know what's going on, and she has nowhere else to go where we can protect her like Freddy was."

Nick looked at Rosalee's pleading face and half-heartedly caved, "Fine, fine. I'll offer her my guest room, but we don't know if she'll want to stay with me. For all we know, once we show her the whole truth, she'll go running for the hills."

"We cannot let that happen," Rosalee determined.

* * *

Lena was meticulously cleaning up her food wrappers from the bed and dumping them into the plastic to-go bag and dumping that into the plastic trash can by the door. With a sigh, she pulled out a worn-out copy of  _Alice in Wonderland_ and started reading on the bed. She was just meeting the Mad Hatter when there was a knock at the door. She waited a beat, to see if a maid or the manager would announce themselves. But there was just another knock.

She slowly stood up and reached into her bag for a can of pepper spray before approaching the door. She peered through the small peephole and felt a chill of fear wash over her when she saw the people from the spice shop on the other side. Nick was at the front, raising his fist to knock again. She quickly opened the door and held up the spray, "One wrong move and I'll have you crying."

Nick blanched at the spray and defended himself, "We're not here to hurt you. We understand that you were probably very confused by what we were talking about earlier."

"We thought you knew already," Rosalee added.

Monroe stepped in, "And seeing Nick's eyes must have been pretty unsettling. It still gets to us sometimes too."

"His eyes?" This time, Lena's confusion was feigned. Maybe if she convinced these people she was clueless and didn't see anything, they'd leave her alone. "I don't know what you mean."

Nick gave her a look, "Yes, you do. We know you saw my eyes change."

Lena set her jaw tight, "I don't know what I saw. You need to leave."

"Please, Lena, we just want to talk," Rosalee plead. "We think someone pretended to be Freddy to lure you here and we're trying to figure out why. We need you to do that."

Lena withered at the suggestion that someone would pretend to be her dead Uncle to hurt her. "Well, maybe I should just leave Portland then."

"If, after all we have to tell you, you still want to leave, then we won't stand in your way," Nick promised. "But please just hear us out."

Lena looked between all of their genuine faces and finally relented, "Fine, come in." She opened the door wider and let them in. She made sure to leave the door unlocked in case she needed to make a hasty exit, but she also made sure to shut the curtains, so no one could look in. "What do you have to tell me?"

"You heard a lot of weird words earlier," Monroe began warily. "Wesen. Grimm."

"And saw something strange," Rosalee added. "Nick's eyes turning black?"

Lena fought as hiver as she remembered seeing his eyes turn into hollow black holes, and seeing her face in them, her own eyes glowing. "I don't know what you're talking about."

The three of them didn't look like they believed her. Rosalee sighed, "We know you do. But you don't have to be afraid. Nick isn't going to hurt you. That's just what his eyes do when he sees someone like us."

"Who is us?" Lena asked impatiently.

"Me," Rosalee gestured to herself and then Monroe. "Monroe. You. Though, we're not entirely sure what kind of wesen you are."

Lena scoffed, "I don't know what a wesen is, but I'm not one."

"Yes, you are," Rosalee said quietly. "Otherwise you wouldn't have seen Nick's eyes change. We all saw your eyes change. Like mine. Like a fuchsbau."

"A fucking what?" Lena asked.

"It's one of the many wesen types," Monroe explained. "Why don't you sit down? We'll explain everything."

And so, she did, and so they did. They ran her through all the pertinent information about what wesen were, what a Grimm was, and what Rosalee found out about her in her brother's journal.

Lena was at a loss for words, gaping jaw, staring between them but not matching eyes with anyone. "Let me try and get this whole story you've concocted straight… Wesen are parahuman beings that have been around forever pretty much. Grimms are weird people who can see what they are when they don't want them to and use that knowledge to hunt and kill them. But you," she gestured to Nick, "are  _different_ and a  _cop_  and don't kill wesen." She pointed to Rosalee, "You are a fuchsbau, and so was Freddy, and my father. But you," she pointed to Monroe, "are a blutbad, aka the big bad wolf? Did I get everything?"

"Well, we don't know what you mother was," Nick said. "Rosalee couldn't find much about her in Freddy's things."

"Surprise, surprise," Lena muttered sarcastically. "She was a spotty weekend parent until she finally walked out when I was four."

The others were a little quiet at the admission. Nick felt sorry for her. Monroe was sympathetic. Rosalee was too, but she was also thinking that that made it harder to figure out what the other half of Lena's form would be. Rosalee quietly shuffled her feet, "I'm sorry. And I'm sorry that we scared you earlier. But this is not a story, this is the whole truth, or as much as we think you can handle at once. And we can prove it to you."

Lena rose a brow at them expectantly, "You can prove it? How?"

"Well, we can woge," Monroe explained. "That's the term for changing our face into our wesen form. We can do it to show each other, usually when we're emotional. Grimms can see that too. We can also sometimes woge for normal people, for anyone to see, usually with a lot of anger, or-or not!" He rushed to reassure her at the end of his sentence when he saw her eyes widen at the word 'anger.'

"We're going to try the first kind of woge," Rosalee said. "Because if you see it, it proves that you are wesen too."

"According to you," Lena said smartly.

"Are you ready?" Rosalee asked her gently. "Just remember that it's still us. And we promise that we're not going to hurt you."

"Just do what you're going to do," Lena replied impatiently, standing up and crossing her arms in front of her chest. Nick stepped away from the couple and closer to Lena, in case she tried to run for it.

Rosalee and Monroe shared a look, and he nodded for her to go first. Rosalee faced Lena and took a deep breath before she curled her head fluidly and shook her chin, her face changing under the skin first as her fuchsbau form came out. When Lena saw the glowing amber eyes, sharp little teeth, fox nose, brown and white fur, and pointed ears poking out through her brown hair, she gasped and fell back to the bed.

Rosalee stayed in form long enough to say, "It's still me," before curling her head the other way and shifting back into human form. "I'm a fuchsbau, so was your father."

Lena didn't know what she was seeing. She looked over at Monroe expectantly, "And you?"

"I'm a little bit harder to absorb," Monroe warned.

"You're trying to convince me what you are – convince me," she retorted sternly.

Monroe sighed and gears himself up to woge. Lena watched with rapt attention as his head shook jerkily from side to side and then his face transformed into this darker, hairy wolf-like face with big glowing red eyes. He did look scary, and Lena couldn't stop the slight yelp as she launched off of the bed and bumped into Nick's chest. He steadied an arm around her shoulders to stop her from tripping and spoke up, "It's still Monroe. He's not going to hurt you."

"Right," Monroe added, but his voice sounded deeper, gravelly, monstrous. At Lena's fearful expression, he quickly woged back and said in his normal voice, "Right. It's just me. I'm harmless, really. I'm not even like other blutbad. I'm a vegetarian clock repairman."

Lena was panting a little in fright, nails biting through the fabric of Nick's shirt since he had not let her go. When she noticed, she jumped away from him and sat at the foot of the bed again. "So, I'm like you?"

"No, you're like her," Monroe gestured to Rosalie. "Or your dad was. So, that would make you half fuchsbau. But we don't know what the other half is."

"And Uncle Freddy was a fuchsbau?" she asked, tone riddled with still fresh grief.

Rosalee nodded, still flinching at her late brother's name, "Yes. And so was Tomas."

Lena was still understandably freaked out, but she had seen for herself that they were telling the truth. "And since I saw you just now… I'm like you?"

Rosalee nodded.

"When am I supposed to turn into…" she trailed off, waving her hand over her own face.

Rosalee shared a look with the two men in the room. That was a difficult question. "We don't exactly know. You should have woged already. Normally it happens around puberty or during our later teen years."

"I'm twenty-eight," Lena cringed. "Why haven't I…"

"Woged," Nick pronounced for her helpfully.

"Woged," she repeated, nodding at him.

Rosalee gave her an almost guilty look. She did feel guilty – if even by association to her brother – for Freddy's actions. "Freddy gave you this tea he made himself."

"Yeah…" Lena trailed off questionably. "The same Christmas present every year – this herbal tea. Only reason I ever drank it was because I could spike it with wiskey and he made a big deal about it being in the family for centuries, yada yada yada…"

"Well, it wasn't just tea," Nick quipped, wanting to get to the bulk of the situation. "It's really, um…" he couldn't remember what it was called.

"Interius celare bestia," Rosalee supplemented. "It's meant to suppress the woge. It was invented during the witch trials to protect wesen from getting seen and accused as witches. But it's illegal now, because it's dangerous for wesen to suppress their other side."

"So, for Freddy to have been dosing you with it your whole life, he'd have to pretty desperate to protect you," Monroe commented.

Lena's eyes widened, "I ran out of that tea two months ago. Freddy didn't send me another batch this year, obviously. Before… I figured that was because he was planning to give it to me when I arrived here."

"Then you may go through the change soon," Rosalee revealed. "But we're here to help you. We guide you through it every step of the way."

"If you decide to stay," Monroe added, earning a stern look from his girlfriend.

"I can't afford to try and set up a fresh practice somewhere new," Lena droned regrettably. "Guess I'll go apartment hunting tomorrow."

Rosalee shared a look with Nick, "About that…"

Lena looked over at her warily, "What about that? I can't live in this motel room or crash at the spice shop."

"It's not a good idea for you to live alone, unprotected," Rosalee said. "We have no idea who tricked you into moving here or why. We talked before coming here and we think it would be a good idea for you to stay with Nick."

Lena eyed Nick more warily than ever now, remembering the way his eyes turned black the first time she saw him. "I don't know…"

"I have a guest room," Nick chimed in. "You'll get your own space and everything. And this way I can help protect you from whoever lured you to Portland."

Lena was still eyeing him warily, but turned her eyes to his hip, "I don't like guns…"

Self-consciously, Nick's fingers felt his police issue firearm at his hip, "I'm Portland PD. I'm trained to use it and I don't wear it in the house."

She didn't look totally convinced or consoled by his words but she just wordlessly nodded, "Fine. It's better than looking for an apartment right now."

Things were tense and silent for a moment before Monroe finally spoke up, "Um, it's getting late. We can help you move your stuff in tonight?"

After Lena again reluctantly agreed, Monroe helped her with her bag while she checked out and she followed their cars to Nick's house. Lena kept pulling her lower lip into her teeth and biting on it awkwardly as the men got her boxes out of the car and brought them into the guest bedroom of Nick's house. As she looked around, she thought that the house looked like it had a woman's touch. But Nick didn't mention a wife or anyone else who lived in the house. But she also noticed a fine layer of dust over most of the flat surfaces, and some strange empty spaces between frames spotted around the home. Maybe the wife wasn't around anymore.

After getting everything out of her car and into the bedroom, Rosalee and Monroe decided to go back to their house. Rosalee promised to call first thing in the morning and offered for Lena to come see her at the shop so they could talk more. Monroe said he was always reachable as well if she wanted to know more about wesen and what being one meant. Lena felt they were more professing their availability in case things got too tense or awkward between her and Nick on her first night in his house.

And while it was awkward once they left, Nick was a hospitable host and helped her get the guest room ready and get most of her boxes out of the way before saying goodnight.

"I'm just down the hall if you need anything at all," he made sure to say. "Help yourself to anything in the kitchen if you're hungry or thirsty."

"I'm just tired," she cut him off. "But thanks. Goodnight."

He nodded. "Goodnight."


	2. Questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just some establishing

The next morning, Lena woke up to the sun shining over her head from the window.  She didn’t mind waking up early.  At her last job, she kept all sorts of long hours.  So had her husband as an ER surgical resident.  She could pretty much wake up and fall asleep whenever she needed to.

 

She quickly fished out an outfit of jeans and a tunic shirt since she had a couple establishing care appointments with her clients today.  She padded her way downstairs as quietly as she could in case Nick was still asleep.  But as soon as she made it to the first floor, she could smell bacon and eggs and toasting bread.  She followed the delicious smells to the kitchen to see Nick at the stove cooking up a storm.

 

He looked up with a shy smile when he noticed her, “Hey, good morning.  I hope you’re not vegan or anything… I made a little breakfast.”

 

“No, I’m not,” she answered.  “It smells great.  But you didn’t have to do this for me – not that I’m saying you are…”

 

He chuckled, “It’s okay.  You’re my guest and you had a lot of information dumped on you last night.”

 

She crossed her arms and leaned her shoulder against the entryway of the kitchen, “I guess it hasn’t really sunk in yet.  That… people other than human exist.  And I’m not even _one_ of them but _two kinds._   It makes me wonder about… pretty much every aspect of my life.”

 

“Like what?” Nick asked as he dished food onto a couple plates for them and lead her to the table in the dining room.

 

She thanked him quietly as she accepted a fork and started eating the eggs.  “Like my father’s death.  Was it really a carjacking gone wrong?  Did Freddy really think of me as his niece or was I some sort of professional obligation?  Does whatever my mother is or was have to do with why she skipped out?  Everything in my past feels like one big cover up now.”  As she finished her brief rant, she blushed when she realized all she’d let slip to this practical stranger.  She awkwardly cleared her throat and took a sip of her water, “Sorry…”

 

“Don’t worry about it,” Nick told her, trying not to probe more, fighting his cop instinct to question.  “I was left with a lot of questions when I found out I was a Grimm right after my Aunt Marie died before she could answer them. Your worries are all valid, and I don’t know how to answer these questions.  But we’ll all help you get the answers.”

 

She shyly smiled and continued eating, quietly saying, “I appreciate it.  I have a couple appointments set up today and I turn my phone on silent for them.  In case you try to reach me, and I don’t answer.”

 

“Appointments?” Nick asked.  “With the doctor?”

 

She guessed Rosalee hadn’t mentioned every detail of their first meeting to the men.  “No, I’m a midwife.  Have been for about a year.  Luckily some former clients in Phoenix knew some potential clients here in Portland so I had a client base to move here and still get an income.  I won’t be gone long.”

 

“You don’t have to check in with me,” Nick told her.  “Being here is for your protection.  Not to monitor you.  We just want to help you.”

 

“I know…” Lena replied quietly.  “I guess I’m just used to letting someone know where I’m going to be or where I am.”

 

Nick noticed her hand start twisting her wedding band around her finger thoughtfully.  “Your husband?”

 

She nodded, twisting the band around.

 

“What was his name?”  He thought that might be the safest question.  He wouldn’t dare ask about his death.

 

“Kevin Sato,” she smiled as she said his name.  “He hyphenated his name too when we got married.  His father was dead set against it, but his mother loved the idea.”

 

Nick didn’t ask another question, not wanting to push her too much.  After clearing his plate, he cleared his throat and told her, “I’ve got to go to work.  But help yourself to the kitchen or laundry room or anything you need.  Unless a case pops up, I should be home in time to get dinner or something.  If you need me, Rosalee gave you my number, right?”

 

“And hers.  And Monroe’s,” she nodded along, following him into the kitchen to wash her empty plate.  “I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

 

Nick didn’t look as certain as her.  “We don’t have any idea who wanted you out here or what they’re planning.  We need to keep you safe.”

 

“Then I’ll keep my ringer on,” she suggested, setting her wet plate aside.

 

He agreed as he collected his wallet and firearm and strung on his jacket as he approached the door.  He stopped just before he opened the door and fished his hands into the key bowl, picking up Juliette’s old key.  He paused a bit with the purple metal key in his hand before handing it to Lena, “Your key… so you can get in and out if I’m not home.”

 

Lena accepted it with an awkward smile, “Right, thanks.  I guess, I’ll see you later.  I’m planning to stop by the shop on my way back tonight.”

 

“Rosalee will be happy to see you,” Nick commented before he finally made his way out the door and to work.

 

* * *

 Hank was still on one crutch when he greeted Nick at their desks, “Hey, so why were you so radio silent last night?”

 

“Someone showed up to the spice shop looking for Freddy,” Nick started vaguely.

 

Hank frowned, leaning forward and speaking quietly, “Someone… wesen?  Or criminal?  I mean, we caught Freddy dealing in stolen organs.”

 

“She’s some kind of wesen, but not a criminal,” Nick answered just a stealthily.  “She was Freddy’s pseudo-niece, he knew her father.  He’s been protecting her, her whole life.  From what, we don’t know.  According to Rosalee, her father was a fuchsbau but her mother is some other kind of wesen.  Apparent hybrid wesen were a big taboo when she was born, so Freddy’s been hiding her, and feeding her this tea that stops her transforming.”

 

“Well, what did she have to say about it?” Hank asked.  “Did she tell you who was after her?  What’s her name, anyway?”

 

“Lena Kühn-Sato, and she had no idea she was anything other than human,” Nick revealed.  “Freddy and her father never told her what she was, and her mother walked out on her when she was a baby.  Freddy has been feeding her that tea her whole life to hide it from the world and her.”

 

“But then Freddy died,” Hank said.  “Is she still drinking that tea?”

 

“She ran out,” Nick said.  “She could woge any day now.  Rosalee and Monroe are going to help her with all of that.  Meanwhile, she’s staying with me.”

 

Hank leaned back at that revelation.  “Whoa… how do you feel about that?”  Since Juliette left, Nick had been a little closed off from the others.  As willing to help others as he’s always been, Hank didn’t expect him to have a woman living with him.

 

Nick shrugged, “She needs protection.  I have room.”

 

Hank saw that Nick wasn’t going to elaborate much more on his feelings about the situation and moved on to telling his partner about all the paperwork they had to do for their last case.

* * *

Lena had made it through her two appointments quickly enough without getting too frustrated.  With being a midwife with patients who didn’t want to give birth in a hospital, there was almost always a relative hovering around trying to talk them out of it.  They believed that western medicine was the only way to deliver a baby safely, along with an epidural to help with the pain.  Lena thought they just didn’t want to be seen as weaker or lesser mothers for giving birth in a hospital instead of all-natural way that came with home births.

 

But Lena didn’t let them insult her and calmly answered all of their questions.  It seemed to help when she revealed having prior medical training, and agreeing that if certain complications arise, it’s st for the mother-to-be to take the birth to the hospital.

  

It was still mid-afternoon when she got through her second and last appointment of the day, scheduling follow ups with both of the impending mothers.  She then hopped in her car and headed to the spice shop.  Rosalee smiled when she saw her walking in.

 

“Hey.  How are you doing?” Rosalee asked as she walked around the counter to greet her.

 

“Fine,” she answered.  “Met up with my patients as planned.  Now, I’d like to know a bit more about… wesen?”

 

Rosalee nodded at her pronunciation and said, “Well, any questions you have, I can try my best to answer in a way you’ll understand.” 

* * *

“So…. You didn’t even know you were wesen until _after_ you woged for the first time?” Lena asked, a bit overwhelmed, as she sat on the cot in the spice shop while Rosalee answered her questions and worked.

 

Rosalee had just told Lena the story of her first woge, with Freddy there to goad and tease her until he finally took pity on her and showed her what her face looked like.  “Yeah, it was uncomfortable, I was so hot and sweaty, and I had no idea what was going on.”

 

“Guess it’s good I got to you now then,” Lena remarked.  “You might take pity on me and walk me through it when I finally woge.  By the way, do you know when that might be?  Like… how do I know when it’ll happen?”

 

Rosalee seemed the most uncertain so far then.  “Well… we don’t know when the woge will come out now because you’ve been drinking that tea for so long.  But it kind of just washes over you when it decides to.  I felt a lot of hot flashes, and pressure.  And then it comes out and it’s just release and starts to feel natural the more you practice.”

 

“You have to practice?” Lena muttered.

 

She shrugged, “It depends.  With me and Monroe, we don’t let our wesen side overrule us.  We’re more human.  There are more animalistic wesen that easily woge and let that side take over.  It all just depends on the person, or wesen.”

 

“So, I should watch out for hot flashes?” Lena guessed.  “I guess I can do that.  Did you find anything in Freddy’s things that tells you what my mother was?  I mean, _is._ ”

 

Rosalee sadly shook her head, “No, he doesn’t mention your mother at all.  It seems that he really only got involved with you and Tomas once she left.”

 

Lena sighed, “Great.”

 

Rosalee walked over and sat next to her on the cot, taking her hand, “We’ll figure it out.  Sooner or later, you’ll woge, we’ll see it and we’ll have an easier guessing what your mother could be.”

 

“You made it sound like wesen hybrid kids are rare,” Lena commented.  “But you and Monroe are two different wesen.  Won’t your kids be hybrids?”

 

Rosalee blanched at the mention of kids, “That’s a… long way off.  But I see your point.  Nowadays, it’s not as rare.  Blood purist groups have been banned for years, even if there are always going to be people like them who think wesen shouldn’t intermix.  But a few decades ago?  When you were born, it was still pretty unthinkable to have inter-wesen couples and mixed families.”

 

Lena leaned her elbows on her knees and rested her chin on her fist, “Maybe that’s why she left…”  At Rosalee’s questioning glance, she added, “My mother.  I know she and my dad never married.  Maybe she never intended to stay with him, but then I came along and ruined her rebellious wesen fling.”

 

Rosalee saw that while Lena was attempting to hide the old pain of her mother’s abandonment behind logical speculation, there was still a little girl inside that missed her mother and wondered if she was to blame for her leaving.  “I don’t think it’ll make a difference to guess why she left.  Maybe she just didn’t know how to be the mother you deserved.”

 

Lena snorted crudely, “Instead I got an invisible one.  As well as a dead dad, fake Uncle, and string of temporary band-aid families until I was out on my own.”

 

Rosalee still didn’t know what to say.  Lena’s words were so blunt and vulnerable, but her face masked over all of it with this steel wall.  “Now you have us.  Me, Monroe, Nick.  We’ll all be here for you every step of the way.”

 

Idly twisting the wedding band on her finger, Lena just hummed in response, “Right.  I know that.  I just can’t stop thinking about what I don’t know.” 

* * *

When Lena returned to Nick’s house in the early evening, she had takeout in hand.  She’d asked Rosalee what kind of food Nick liked, because she wanted to thank him for taking her in, as well as making breakfast that morning.  Rosalee didn’t really have anything helpful to say, so Lena just opted for some classic burgers, fries, and milkshakes to go.

 

But when she walked into the house with her spare key, she dropped the food just inside the living room when she saw Nick laying sprawled out on the couch, skin white as a sheet.  She ran to his side and felt around for a pulse and shivered at how cold his skin was.  She waited and waited for a pulse, until it finally did beat, but it was way too slow.

 

Without a second thought, she raced up to her guest room and yanked of her medical bag until it popped out of her suitcase, and she raced back down to the living room again.  Dropped the bag beside the couch, she unzipped it to pull out a pen light.  She tested Nick’s wrist for a pulse first, and still found it alarmingly slow.  Clicking on her pen light, she reached up to pull his eyelid open, so she could test their response to light.  As soon as the light hit his pupil though, Nick let out a startled yelp and sat up, now awake.

 

“What are you doing?” he asked, his eyes flinching away from her light.

 

Clicking it off, she stood.  “Checking your vitals.”  She watched as his color rapidly returned, and he sat in front of her alive and well.  “You looked dead.”

 

“What?” he asked, getting to his feet as well.  “That’s ridiculous.”

 

“Nick…” she said slowly, “I used to be a paramedic.  Your pulse was almost nonexistent, I could barely feel you breathing, you were white as a ghost, and freezing to touch.  You looked dead.”

 

She could tell behind his eyes that he did seem worried, but also in denial.  It was then that he explained the ordeal he’d recently gone through with Rosalee, Monroe, his partner, Hank, and captain, Sean Renard.  An unusual wesen called a Cracher-Mortel – that could woge into a puffer fish like being and spit on people to turn them into mindless zombies – raised an army in Portland under Royal orders.  After luring Nick and the others to a ship yard, they separated Nick from the others so the wesen, Samedi, could turn him and take him to Vienna to either die or be a slave to the Royals.

 

Only, it affected Nick differently than a normal human.  He didn’t obey Samedi’s orders like he was supposed to and was too strong to be stopped.  After being smuggled on a plain, he took it down to escape into Portland, and went on a violent trek through the city before his friends finally stopped him and cured him.  But he was still dealing with after effects of the whole ordeal.  Namely, he didn’t tire easily, his pulse was slower.  Hank had noticed these little things and forced Nick to see a doctor.  After many stress testings, the doctor could find nothing inherently wrong with him.  In fact, he seemed too healthy.  It was like nothing they’d ever seen before.

 

“So… you’re like a zombie Grimm?” Lena questioned.

 

Nick shook his head, a small amused smile on his lips, “Not exactly.  I’m not a zombie.  I’m just different.”

 

“So… super Grimm,” she quipped, finally returning her pen light to her medical bag and zipping it up.  She prepared to take it back up to her room when she saw the to-go bags of food on the floor and a spilled milkshake and remembered what she’d been doing when she got there.  “Damn.  Dinner is probably cold by now.”

 

“Dinner?” Nick questioned.

 

Walking over to pick up the bags, she answered, “Yeah, I picked up some burgers on the way back from the spice shop.”

 

“You didn’t have to do that,” he said, but quickly helped her clean up the overturned milkshake.

 

“I’m not a deadbeat roommate,” she joked.  “But I forgot about the food when I saw you… looking dead.”

 

“Well, I’m sure we can salvage it just yet,” he said.  They opted to just toss the food in the microwave and have a nice dinner at the dinner table.  She was surprised when Nick grabbed her a beer without really thinking about it.

 

“Thanks,” she said as she accepted it.

 

After some silent chewing, Nick broached a new subject, “So… you went from being an EMT in Arizona, to a midwife in Portland?  Big change.”

 

Swallowing her bite, she just shrugged, “I needed a big change.  After Kevin died, I couldn’t stand being a paramedic.  All I saw were traumatic injuries, patients I couldn’t save.  Even the mild cases or run-of-the-mill fainting spells didn’t break it up enough.  I wanted to do something else.  And bringing life into the world seemed like the right thing.  So, I got my training and built my name, and then Freddy convinced me to come here.”

 

Nick didn’t know what to say to that.  He could tell she didn’t necessarily share so much.

 

That thought was confirmed when she blushed and turned away to sip at her milkshake.  “Yeah… so, you’re a cop.  What’s that like?”

 

After that, conversation dwindled off of the heavier topics and reverted to easy back and forth over microwaved food and cold beer until they both retired to bed for the night.


	3. Not Normal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something strange happens to Lena that suggested her mother may have been something bad and dangerous. Meanwhile, Nick and Lena have to adjust when Juliette's old college friend seeks shelter in Portland from her abusive husband.

The next morning, Lena woke to a note on the fridge from Nick saying he went for a run.  She went about making coffee when the phone rang.  She picked it up from the receiver by the stove and answered it, “Hello?”

  

There was a woman crying on the other end.  “I’m calling for Juliette… maybe I got the wrong number.”

  

Sensing that this woman was in distress, Lena searched for something to say.  “Yeah, no, I’m just a house guest—”

  

Just then, Nick jogged in from the back door and frowned when he saw her frowning on the phone.  He mouthed, ‘What’s wrong?’

  

She shrugged helplessly, handing him the phone, “Some woman calling for Juliette.  She sounds scared though.”

  

Nick took the phone instantly, “This is Nick, who is—” Lena just watched as he spoke to the woman.  “Alicia, hi.  What’s wrong?... Juliette’s not here… Are you hurt?... Okay, do you want to report… Fine, then you need to get into the car and come here… Call me from the road, and whatever you do, do not call or speak to Joe or let him know where you’re going… Okay, bye.”

  

As he hung up, Lena finally asked, “What’s going on?  That sounded bad.”

  

“Alicia, an old friend of Juliette’s,” Nick grimaced as he said his ex-girlfriend’s name.  “Her husband’s always been an asshole, with problems with his temper too.  She was a bit upset, wants to get away from him.”

  

“So, you told her to come here, of course,” Lena finished.  “How’s she going to react when she finds out that Juliette isn’t here anymore?”

  

Nick shrugged, “I don’t know.  She just needed to get out of there.  I’ll deal with the rest when she does.  I hope you don’t mind.  I know that means it’s going to get crowded here.”

  

“Nick, this is your place,” Lena reminded him.  “And besides that, if her husband is hurting her, then we need to help her get away from him.  Can you…” she trailed off, “can you call Juliette?  Maybe she can talk to Alicia?”

  

Nick solemnly shook his head, “I’m afraid not.  When she left, she didn’t want anything to do with me.  She changed her number and moved away pretty quickly.  I don’t know how to get in touch with her.”

  

“I’m sorry,” Lena murmured.  Her head tilted as a thought occurred to her, “Didn’t you just go on a run?”

  

“Yep,” he said, grabbing a bottle of water.

  

She peered at him, “You're not sweating.”

  

“I know. Weird, isn't it?” he scoffed.  “I told you I was changed.”

  

“Apparently,” Lena muttered. 

* * *

Rosalee looked up when the bell rang above her door and smiled when she saw Lena walking in.  “Lena!  Hi.  No appointments today?”

 

Lena shook her head, “Not today, no.  I still have a relatively small patient base here, so it’ll be a while until I’m up on my feet enough to afford my own place and get out of Nick’s hair.”

 

“I’m sure Nick doesn’t mind you being there a bit,” Rosalee assured her.  “It’s his job to help people.”

 

“I know, but I doubt cops make a habit of taking hybrid wesen into their homes,” Lena retorted.  “I don’t know.  It feels like I came here for a fresh start, one of my own, but I’ve somehow fallen backwards into this whole new world of wesen and Grimms and magical teas that I never knew existed.  And I still want to know why Freddy never told me the truth.  What could have been so bad about what my mother was, or the dangers that posed for me, that he’d rather have let me live oblivious to who I am than to just tell me?”

 

Rosalee frowned, “I’m sure Freddy had his reasons, and I’m sure it was all in the effort to protect you.  He must have been pretty desperate if he resorted into stopping your woge.”  She walked around the counter to take her hand, “And this place can still be a fresh start for you.”

 

Lena scoffed, “My idea of a fresh start involved solitude, being a midwife, maybe some yoga classes.  Not people that turn into animals or magical potions or some secret lives Freddy and my dad seemed to have had.  I wanted normal and quiet!”

 

Her words picked up as her emotions built, and with them the wind picked up around the room.  A gust of wind burst through the shop, knocking a row of glass jars off of the counter where Rosalee had been organizing them.

 

After the wind blew away, Rosalee and Lena jumped at the noise of shattering glass on the floor.  Lena’s eyes widened, “What the hell was that?”

 

Rosalee’s eyes were wide with fright as well, “It was like… magic.”

 

Lena looked between her and the broken pile of glass, “Do fuchsbaus have magic?”

 

Rosalee slowly shook her head.

 

“Then what wesen does?” Lena questioned her.

 

“Only hexenbiests,” Rosalee said slowly.

 

Lena’s eyes widened even more as she faced Rosalee, “You mean like that Adalind woman who nearly killed Nick’s partner?”

 

Rosalee slowly nodded, “Maybe your mother…”

 

“…was a hexenbeist…” Lena finished.  “From what you told me about them, they’re nasty wesen, dangerous.”

 

“That doesn’t mean you are,” Rosalee tried to reassure her, taking hold of her shaking hands.  “You’re a good person.  The fact that you may be being half hexenbeist doesn’t change any of that.”

 

“What if it does?” Lena asked.  “What if my hexenbeist half effects my character once it comes out?  You said that sometimes wesen let their animal side take over.”

 

“Because they allow it,” Rosalee interjected.

 

“You said that you and Monroe _work_ to stay human and not let your wesen urges overcome you,” Lena pointed out.  “I mean, for God’s sake, Monroe is a vegetarian and does Pilates in order to ignore the Big Bad Wolf part of him.  At least only half of me is hexenbeist, I could be a lethal maniac like Adalind otherwise.”

 

“We don’t know for sure that you are,” Rosalee tried to stay positive.  “Whatever just happened could have nothing to do with wesen.  We’re not the only things out there.  Nick’s cousin is a vampire.”

 

Lena’s eyes bugged, “His cousin is a what?”

 

Rosalee grimaced, “Long story short, he discovered a semi-distant cousin he’d never known of a few months ago.  The other side of her family descended down from vampires.  She lives in California and is friends with other creatures that have nothing to do with wesen.  Werewolves, mostly.  The point is, hexenbeist isn’t our only option.”

 

“Then until we _know_ , we can’t tell Nick – or Monroe,” Lena said resolutely.  “Not after all the trouble Adalind caused.  Not until we’re sure.”

 

Rosalee didn’t like the idea of hiding anything from Nick, much less Monroe, but she could understand Lena’s reservations.  Truthfully, there was no harm in keeping it under their hats until they knew anything for sure.  No sense in causing distress if it turned out that nothing inside of her was hexenbeist.

 

So, she agreed, “Okay, I promise.”

 

Lena sighed, “Thank you, Rosalee.” 

* * *

“Isn’t she here yet?” Lena asked Nick once she got back to the house and realized that this Alicia woman hadn’t arrived yet.  It was already dark out.

 

Nick didn’t seem so worried, “No, but she lives kind of far away and there could have been traffic.”

 

“Did you call her?” she asked as she took off her coat and hung it up by the door.

 

“Yeah, but it went straight to voicemail,” he said.  “I think her cell died.”

 

Just then, headlights washed over the front windows and Nick walked out to open the door for her and help her get her suitcase inside.  Lena watched as the openly weeping woman walked into the house and became confused when she saw Lena.  “Sorry, who are you?”

 

“A friend,” Lena put out her hand.  “Lena.  You’re Alicia, I’m sorry about what you’ve been going through.”

 

“We're gonna help you get through this,” Nick added as he closed the door.

 

“Where’s Juliette?” Alicia asked, seeming distressed.

 

Lena flushed at what it could look like, her being there and Juliette not being there.  “How about I make something to snack on?  Alicia, the guest room is all yours.  I’ll be right back.”

 

When she got to the kitchen, she realized she didn’t really know where anything was.  It felt wrong to peruse through Nick’s fridge and pantry, but it was too awkward for her to be in the room while Nick explained to Alicia that Juliette left him and took off and was in effect unreachable.  So, she made a quickie pasta dish and started setting it out on the table.  From the dining room, she could hear Nick talking.

 

“This isn't your fault, you know.”

 

She could hear Alicia sobbing, “I'm sorry.”

 

She turned her head into the living room in time to see Alicia’s face changing.  It was just as startling to see this stranger woge as it was to see Rosalee and Monroe woge for the first time.  And she wondered if she could ever get used to it.  Smartly, she kept her reaction to herself, and could see from Nick’s shocked face that he hadn’t known Alicia was a fuchsbau.

 

“Alicia,” Lena announced her presence, ready to guide her to the food.  “I know you probably don’t think you can stomach any food, but you have to eat.  I made something small.  Come eat.”

 

Alicia just numbly nodded and walked over to the dining room table.

 

For show, Nick said, “I’ll take your bag up.”

 

While Alicia was pushing food around on a plate, Nick urgently whispered to Lena, “You saw that, right?”

 

“Yeah, she looked like Rosalee,” Lena whispered.  “Did you and Juliette know she was a—”

 

“No,” he answered before she could finish.  “Listen, I’m sorry about this.  Let me take the couch, and you can have my room.”

 

“No,” she protested.  “I’ve put you out enough.”

 

“You haven’t even been here a week,” Nick pointed out.  “You haven’t put me out.  You sit down with Alicia, calm her down.  I’ll take her stuff up to the guest room and put your things in my room.  That’s that.”

 

Before she could protest more, he started dragging the suitcase in hand up the stairs.  Lena wordlessly made her way to the table and sat down across from Alicia, starting to eat, hoping it would encourage the other woman to eat as well.

 

“So… I hope I haven’t kicked you out of your room,” Alicia mumbled.  “Who are you, again?”

 

“I’m Lena, a friend,” she said.  “And don’t worry about anything like that.”

 

“If you don’t mind me asking, why are you crashing here?” Alicia asked.

 

Lena didn’t really know what to say.  She couldn’t very well tell this woman the truth.  Maybe she could, if she was wesen as well.  But they still didn’t know each other.  So, she thought on her feet, “Things got difficult for me after my husband passed away.  Nick is just helping me out while I get on my feet again.”

 

Alicia frowned, and looked like she was going to cry again, “I’m sorry to hear about your husband.  How…”

 

“Brain aneurysm,” Lena cut her off before she heard the word ‘die’ again.  “It was very quick and sudden.”

 

“I’m sorry,” Alicia whispered as Nick finally wandered down into the dining room to join them.  Conversation was kept easy from then on for the rest of the night.

 

When Alicia was finally ready for bed, as was Lena, Nick showed her to the guest room and showed Lena to his room, to show her where he’d put down her things.

 

“You really should just let me take the couch,” Lena complained.

 

“What kind of host would that make me?” Nick joked as he went to his drawers to grab sleep clothes for the night.  “Besides, the couch isn’t that bad.  I’ll be fine.”

 

“I’d be fine on the not-so-bad couch too,” she grumbled as he started walking out of the room.

 

He just laughed.  “Goodnight!”

 

“Goodnight!” 

* * *

Nick had gone off to the station pretty early the next morning.  Apparently, his captain had gone off to Vienna for a bit but was now back.  He barely had time for a cup of coffee before he was out the door.  Alicia was sort of hovering in the kitchen while Lena poured cereal.

 

“Sorry, I don’t know Nick’s kitchen well,” Lena said as she handed Alicia a bowl for her own cereal breakfast.

 

Alicia just chuckled, “That’s okay.  So… you’re a friend of Nicks, right?  Do you know Juliette too?”

 

Lena floundered, but shook her head, “Never met her.  Haven’t known Nick super long.  It was more of he’s a friend of a friend and had room.  I’m building up my patient base before I can afford my own place.”

 

“I’ll get out of your hair soon,” Alicia promised.

 

“Nick’s hair,” Lena corrected.  “And don’t even worry about it.”  She then dumped the leftover milk into the sink and started washing it, “I have a couple appointments with potential patients today, so I’ll be out the afternoon.  But you should just keep your phone off the hook so to speak and relax for the day.  I don’t know when Nick’ll be back or anything, but I should be back with enough time to make something for dinner rather than get takeout again.”

 

“You don’t have to put yourself out for me, you’re a guest here too,” Alicia tried to argue.

 

Lena just shrugged her off, “Either way.  I’ll see you later, okay?  You can call either me or Nick if anything comes up, okay?”

 

Alicia just numbly nodded as she left.  Lena felt bad for the woman.  The large bruise on the side of her face told Lena exactly what kind of situation she was running from.  And still, she ran to Portland for her best friend, not her best friend’s ex-boyfriend and a stranger.  She needed a familiar confidant.  She needed someone she trusted.  But she was stuck with Nick and Lena.  Lena just hoped that she knew any situation other than her previous one was better, and she wouldn’t go running back to ‘Joe.’ 

* * *

Hank and Nick had had a long day already, come to find out that yet another case of theirs involved wesen.  This time, a Russian healing wesen who couldn’t keep it in his pants.  But could also give someone radiation poisoning, if the man they’d found laid up in a motel room bathtub on the brink of death was anything to go by.  This brought the officers to drag Monroe away from his clocks and to Nick’s Aunt Marie’s trailer to see if they could find anything more about this particular wesen.

 

“Looks like this stuff barely survive the fire,” Monroe commented as he flipped through papers with singed edges.  “A lot of loose pages here, all in Russian. This stuff is totally burnt. Also, all in Russian.”

 

“Maybe we should've brought the Captain,” Hank suggested.

 

Nick gave him a look, “Here?”

 

Hank shrugged, “Yeah.”

 

“I don't think so,” Nicks said definitively.  He didn’t trust the Captain to the degree of letting him into the trailer of the Aunt that he attempted to have killed.  “Okay, try to find anything in English.”

 

Monroe shuffled through the papers, peering at them and reading aloud, “Stalin... looks like he used Malin Fatal as bodyguards. That's nice.”  He stopped when he finally found what he was looking for, “Ah, English, at last.”  Hank and Nick stopped what they were doing to hear him read aloud the words of Nick’s ancestor, “December 1, 1916.  Lieutenant Oswald Carter, St. Petersburg, Russia.  Ozzie, received your dispatch.  Rasputin's influence over tzarina and his call to remove Russian troops from the front devastating to allied cause.  Your plan approved.  God save King George.  Sir Ian Hastings, British secret intelligence bureau.”

 

“Rasputin?” Hank questioned dubiously.  “He's in here too?”

 

“The mad monk?” Monroe said like that nickname made it make sense.  “Guess so. Okay, this looks like a journal entry. Rasputin was a Koschie. Figures, I knew he was wesen.”

 

“Captain said Myshkin was a Koschie,” Nick said.  “You know anything about them?”

 

Monroe looked up, “Huh? No. Koschie are, you know, Russian, which means they're Greek to me.”  He looked back to the paper in his hands and kept reading, “Because of their healing powers, they are extremely difficult to kill, but one must be especially careful.  A Koschie's touch can not only heal but also be fatal.”

 

Hank frowned, “How do you know which one you're going to get?”

 

“There's more about Rasputin here,” Monroe told them, continuing on, “When the poison proved ineffective, I instructed Yusopov to just shoot the bastard.  Unfortunately, he fired only one shot.  I quickly shot him three more times with my webley.  Still, this wasn't enough to kill him.  We had to beat him senseless and dump him in the icy waters of the neva river.  Ironically, British intelligence had no idea they had sanctioned a Grimm to kill a wesen.”

 

Nick’s phone rang, and he was quick to answer it, “Burkhardt.  Where?  We're on it.  Gentlemen, we have a body.”

 

“Well, this is where I say do svidaniya, comrades,” Monroe said with a poor accent while the police officers gathered themselves and left the trailer. 

* * *

Lena was actually surprised she ended up having a nice dinner with Alicia when she got home that night.  Alicia took it upon herself to make a ravioli dinner that was ready by the time she got there.  They waited a bit but decided to go ahead and eat since they didn’t know when Nick would be back.

 

It had become pretty late, so Lena wrapped up some food for Nick and washed her and Alicia’s dishes when they heard the door open and close.

 

“Nick?  That you?” she called out.

 

“Yeah,” she heard as he appeared in the entryway of the kitchen.  “How'd it go today?”

 

“Fine for me, I had to work,” Lena shrugged, setting a plate out to dry.

 

“I stuck around here, relaxed,” Alicia said with a weak smile.  She started to shuffle her feet and flush, “Look, Nick, I know this is such an imposition, and I promise you that...”

 

“Come on, none of that,” Nick cut her off kindly.  “Has Joe tried calling again today?”

 

She smiled and said, “I turned off my phone,” as the house phone started to ring.

 

“That's good,” Nick said as he walked over to the desk to answer it.  “Hello?”

 

“ _Where is she?  Where’s Alicia?_ ” an angry voice shouted into the phone line.

 

Nick kept his voice even, “I don’t know what you’re talking about Joe.”

 

When the girls heard the name ‘Joe’, they froze.  Alicia immediately shrunk into herself and almost started crying, praying to herself in fear.

 

“ _I'm looking for my wife! This is none of your damn business, Detective._ ”

 

“Well, I'm not talking to you as a cop... yet. You need to calm down,” Nick warned him.

 

“ _The hell I do! Is she there? Just tell me if she's there. Damn it, I know she's there!_ ”

 

“If Alicia left you, I'm sure she did it for a pretty good reason. Do you want to tell me about it?” Nick responded.

 

Lena and Alicia watched as Nick set the phone down with a sigh, “He hung up.”

 

Alicia bit on her thumbnail, “Does he know that I'm here?”

 

“He's probably calling all of your friends,” Nick tried to reassure her.

 

But she was close to panicking, “If he knows that I'm here, then he will come here.”

 

“Then he can be handled then,” Lena tried to pacify the terrified woman.

 

“She’s right,” Nick added.

 

But Alicia still looked so scared, “Look, Nick, you don't... you don't understand, okay? He's... he's... he's not normal.”

 

“Well, let's hope he's normal enough not to do anything stupid,” Nick said.  But as he and Lena shared a look, they both wondered the same thing.  When she said ‘not normal,’ did she mean wesen?  And if so, what kind?


	4. A Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick and Lena have quite the day

After Alicia went to bed for the night, Lena and Nick had to sit down and have a frank talk about what to do with the situation.  “So, you had no idea that she was wesen?”

 

Nick shook his head, “This is the first time I’ve seen her since I became a Grimm.”

 

Lena was at a loss.  “Do we… talk to her about it?  Like you guys did for me.”

 

“Your situation is very different,” Nick said.  “Hers has nothing to do with being wesen, and I don’t think she’ll be eager to confess to it if she finds out I’m a Grimm.”

 

“She can’t know then,” Lena sighed.  “We’ll just focus on helping her get away from her asshole husband and leave it at that.”

 

“Agreed,” Nick said before they said goodnight. 

* * *

The next morning, Nick was already gone.  He’d left a note in the kitchen saying he’d been called out to a diner where someone attacked a couple in the parking lot and the man died.

 

“Morning,” Lena said when she walked downstairs to see Alicia at the dining table on her computer.

 

“Morning.”

 

“How'd you sleep?”

 

“Oh, good, for once,” Alicia weakly smiled.  “Oh, I found some apartments online... really affordable too.”

 

“That sounds great,” Lena said.

 

Alicia nodded a bit awkwardly, “But not here in Portland.”

 

Lena frowned and sat at the table with her.  “Are you afraid that Joe is still going to be able to find you here?”

 

“It’s not that,” Alicia muttered.  “I emailed Juliette, to get a hold of her and tell her where I am.  She said I should go to where she is.”  She averted her eyes, as if she felt guilty.  “But she doesn’t want me to tell anyone where that is.  She doesn’t want Nick to know.”

 

Lena averted her eyes too.  “Oh.”

 

“Do you know… what happened between them?” Alicia asked.  “I mean, I always thought Nick was the sweetest guy ever.  He still seems that way.  He and Juliette were so solid, except for the whole memory loss episode.”

 

“I think things probably went downhill from then,” Lena fibbed.  She didn’t know, really.  “Things like that either make a couple stronger or slowly chip away at them.  I can’t really speak to the situation beyond that, not having known Juliette myself or how she and Nick were together.”

 

“Sometimes things just don’t work out,” Alicia shrugged limply, probably thinking about her nightmare of a marriage.

 

Lena tentatively slid her hand over to cup over hers, “And sometimes things happen for a reason.”  Alicia smiled gratefully and squeezed her hand back.  After a moment, Lena stood, “Now, I’ve got an establishing care appointment at a clinic I’m working through and need to get going.”

 

“Have a good day, midwife,” Alicia said with a big grin.

 

Lena did for the most part.  She familiarized herself with the clinic she would be working through for some of the clients that want the natural birth experience in a place that had medical equipment on hand.  The head physician there was a nice portly man with six kids that were all born in water births.  His wife was the head RN.  There were a group of midwives who worked exclusively in the clinic, also working with birth control, reproductive health, screenings, and birthing classes.  It seemed like a nice place.  But the thought of going to an office every day just reminded Lena too much of her old life.  She would enjoy the home visits.

 

On her way out of the clinic after meeting with anxious new mom, Diana, and her husband of two years, Tate, Lena was on her way to her car and thought it a good time to call Rosalee.

 

“Hi, Lena, what’s up?” her Uncle’s sister answered.

 

“I wanted to ask you about Alicia,” Lena said as she got into her car, sitting there.  “I don’t know if Nick told her that we saw her… woge?”

 

“No, he didn’t mention it,” Rosalee answered.  “What did she look like?”

 

“Like you.  So, we’re not worried,” Lena told her.  “I’m just trying to wrap my head around that this happens outside of us too.  That this is literally the world pretty much.  And now it’s weird to talk to her and be around her, knowing what I know but her not knowing that I know.  You know?”

 

Rosalee’s calm voice answered patiently, “I know.  But I wouldn’t suggest bringing it up or anything.  I mean, if she told you she was wesen before you knew about wesen, you would think she was crazy.”

 

“I know, but I _know_ now,” Lena said.  “And while the sheer magnitude is overwhelming – I’m okay with the fact that wesen exist.  I mean – hell, I _am_ one.  At least the half that we know about.”

 

Rosalee sighed on the other end, “Look, it's not that easy to admit being wesen, even to wesen. I did everything I could to deny what I was. I hid it, hung out with all the wrong people. You have no idea how badly you just want to be normal.”

 

“I do now,” Lena said wryly.

 

Rosalee’s voice sounded apologetic, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say it like that.”

 

“No, Rose, I get it,” Lena said.  “I understand that wesen like you and Monroe grew up with this and it was probably a bit more traumatic to go through that at puberty when life is hard enough as it is.  I found out at 28 with an adult mindset.  I thought I was just an orphan before.  And for the record, I hung out with all the wrong people too.  So, we can be the reformed wesen clique of Portland.”

 

Rosalee chuckled a bit, “We should get matching jackets.  You don't realize how different Nick and Hank are, that they don't judge or, more importantly, cut off our heads.  Your acceptance of the truth we dropped on you is part of that too.  But not everyone reacts so well.  My advice is, don’t breach the subject.”

 

“It’s more important to keep her safe and help her get her life back,” Lena agreed.  She leaned her head on the window.  “I don’t know, I guess I needed it to sink in and you’re good at talking me through all this stuff.”

 

“I’m glad I could help,” Rosalee said, smile in her voice. 

* * *

Lena was standing at the kitchen stove flipping bacon on the ban while eggs cooked on the next panel over.  If she was confident in her pancake abilities, she would make those too.  As it was, she had fruit pancake muffins in the kitchen.  She was just taking those out to cool when Nick ambled down the stairs and started the coffee machine.

 

“What time did you get in last night?” she asked as she mixed cheese into the scramble eggs.

 

“Ugh, late,” Nick groaned.  “Hope I didn’t wake you.”

 

“’Course not,” she said.  “Sorry, I don’t know how to make coffee.  But I made tea.  Did everything go all right with the safe house for that kid?”

 

“So far,” Nick shrugged.  “But we still have to get the guys that are after him.”

 

“You will,” she told him confidently.

 

Their conversation was interrupted when Alicia made her way into the kitchen.  “Morning.  Something smells good.”

 

“That would be breakfast, so I hope so,” Lena smiled lightly.

 

Alicia thanked Nick when he handed her a cup of fresh coffee.  “I, uh... I found an apartment.”

 

Nick smiled, “Oh, that's great.”

 

She nodded a bit awkwardly, “Yeah. Yeah, it is.  I just have to get my stuff together so I can probably take off tomorrow.”  She took a sip of her coffee before saying, “So, look, I just wanted to thank you both for everything that you've done, taking me in at a moment's notice and just being there for me. You both have been really good friends, so... I-I owe you a lot.”

 

Nick waved her off, “Don’t even think about it.  You don’t owe us anything, Alicia.  What’s important is that you’re safe and you get a second chance now to be happy.”

 

Alicia tearfully thanked him again and gave him a hug.  Nick awkwardly hugged her back and then Lena declared that breakfast was done and to get themselves a plate.  They had just started getting seated at the table when there was a knock at the door.  Nick got up to answer it, seeing no one there.

 

“Do kids ding dong ditch in this neighborhood?” Lena asked jokingly just Nick turned to close the door.

 

But then a tall pale man with crazed eyes appeared in the empty doorway and smacked Nick over the head with something large, knocking him down to the ground.

 

Alicia stood from her seat, screaming, “Joe!”

 

“Alicia,” the man – her husband – growled, racing to her and grabbing her arms in his grip.

 

She tried to wiggle out of his grasp, crying out, “No!”

 

“Hey!” Lena shouted, racing to the struggling couple and pulling Alicia out of his grasp.

 

He grabbed her and yelled in her face, “Stay out of it!” before tossing her into the coffee table.

 

Lena let out a sharp cry as her head smacked into the leg but got back up on her feet as quick as she could.

 

Alicia desperately tried to get away, but he chased her into the dining room before she could get to the door in the kitchen and grabbed her again, snarling into her tear-stained face, “You're coming back home where you belong.”

 

Lena took a running start and prepared to jump on the man’s back, but as she approached, some kind of unseen force shoved the couple back until Joe’s back landed hard against the wall.  Wind knocked out of him, his grip slacked around Alicia and she broke away from him.  Once Alicia was clear, Lena carried on charging for him and lept into the air.  She spun with her leg in the air, kicking him across the jaw without enough momentum that he spun onto the kitchen floor.

 

“Get the hell out of this house!” Lena yelled at him, making sure she was between Alicia and Joe at all times.

 

Joe lept up to his feet, cursing, “You bitch!” as his face morphed into a savage grey cat-like face with pointed ear coming out of the top of his head.

 

Lena curled her lip at him, recognizing his form from the book Nick had let her borrow.  “A Klaustreich, I should have known.”  She kicked her foot up until it landed painfully in his groin.  He groaned and bent over in pain.  She grabbed his hair at the back of his head and held him there so she could bring her knee up into his face.  With satisfaction, she heard his nose crack loudly.  “You stay away from her!”

 

“Hey!” Nick called for attention, coming into the room with his gun out.

 

Joe was collapsed on the ground, still in wesen form, and saw Nick’s eyes going completely black.  He instantly held his hands up in surrender as he returned to his human form, eyes full of fear.  “Oh, God, a Grimm. Oh, God, don't kill me. Please don't kill me.”

 

“Well, I don't think it's me you have to worry about,” Nick said, giving Lena a look.  He had seen at least some of her fight moves.

 

Alicia instantly morphed into her fuchbau form, feeling terrified all over again.  “A Grimm?  No, no, no…”  She started edging towards the exit, but Lena grabbed her arms.

 

“Hey, it’s not like that, Nick’s a cop and you know him,” Lena told her gently.  “He’s not gonna hurt you.  He hasn’t hurt me and I’m like you.  I swear to God, that you’re safe.  We defended you against Joe, right?”

 

Alicia morphed back to human, slowly nodded and letting Lena embrace her.

 

“I just wanted her to come back,” Joe whined as Nick turned him onto his back and grabbed his arms to lift him up.  “I didn't mean to hurt her.”

 

“That’s horse shit, you bastard,” Lena cursed at him.

 

Nick cuffed Joe and began to take him out of the house, but Alicia stopped him.  “Wait.”  She stood in front of her husband, finger in his face, “We are done. I never want to see you again.”

 

Nick leered into Joe’s face threateningly, “If she ever does see you again...”

 

“No, no, I swear, she'll never see me again,” Joe eagerly agreed as Nick carted him out of the house.

 

Left in the kitchen to themselves, Alicia and Lena faced each other.  The battered wife sniffled and let out a sigh, “Thank you…”  She trailed off, studying Lena curiously now, “So… you know?  About me, about wesen?”

 

“I was recently enlightened to the weirder things in this world,” Lena answered diplomatically.  She didn’t want to unload all the complexities of what she was.  “Like I said, I’m like you.  My dad was a fuchsbau too.  And Nick may be a Grimm, but he doesn’t go around killing all wesen.  We met through his wesen friends.

 

Alicia gave a shaky nod, “Is this… why Juliette left Nick?”

 

Lena didn’t want to lie, but she didn’t want to potentially damage Alicia and Juliette’s friendship.  “I think it was part of it.  Not the existence of wesen, but a lot of things happened, including the memory stuff, and I think she just couldn’t handle it anymore.”

 

Alicia looked ready to burst into tears again.  If Juliette left Nick because he was a Grimm, what did that mean for her since she was a Fuchsbau?

 

Sensing her thought process, Lena stepped up to hug the woman tightly.  “Don’t think like that.  Juliette is still your friend.  She doesn’t know what you are, and you don’t have to tell her.  Now isn’t the time to think about that kind of stuff.  Now is the time to focus on starting your new life.”  She pulled away and brushed the tears off of her cheeks.  “Now, why don’t I help you pack and get everything in order?  You have a new life to start.”

 

Alicia nodded weakly and half-heartedly gestured to the mess around them, “What about all this?”

 

“I think I’ll leave it in case they need photo evidence,” Lena said.  “I’ll clean up myself after I speak with Nick.  Don’t worry.”

 

Alicia accepted her side-hug and the two climbed their ways upstairs. 

* * *

“Wait, so the brother and sister were… cheetahs?” Lena questioned as she and Nick set the table for a belated dinner.

 

“Yaguarate,” Nick pronounced slowly for her.  “But they look like anthropomorphic cheetahs.”

 

“I would not have seen that coming,” Lena said as they sat down.  “But at least those gang members won’t be able to hurt anyone else.”

 

“Yeah, there’s that,” Nick agreed, taking in the spread of sushi Lena hand made for dinner tonight.  “This looks delicious.  And impressive.  Where did you learn to roll sushi?”

 

Lena chuckled as she had to help him through using chop sticks.  “I learned from my mother-in-law.  It was a way to bond with her and show her that I would be able to keep her precious boy fed with tastes of home.”

 

“Do you still talk?” Nick asked warily.

 

She nodded lightly, “Yeah, we’re still close.  She lost her husband too, so she knows how it is.  She knows I had to leave Arizona and start over.  She’s got a group of other old ladies that get together for lunch and bowling every week so, at least she’s not alone.”

 

“Neither are you,” Nick told here softly, putting his cop sticks down.  “Alone, that is.  I know we’re all still new to you, but we’re here for you.”

 

She gave him a weak smile.  She knew he meant it.  But it was still hard to think of letting people in.  After losing Kevin, and Freddy.  But she knew she had to make an effort, “I know.  And I’m grateful.  That’s partially why I made this for dinner.  It became one of my specialties, and I wanted to do something to thank you for everything you’ve done for me since I came to town.  It’s not much, but it’s a start at repaying you.”

 

“You don’t have to repay me,” Nick countered genuinely.  “You don’t owe me anything just like Alicia doesn’t owe us anything.  You’re a welcome addition here.”

 

Lena let the subject die, taking a sip of her drink.  “So… you’ve had an exciting day, huh?  Abusive husband this morning, gang members this afternoon…”

 

Nick chuckled, “Yeah, I think we’ve both had a hell of a day.  Speaking of, where did you learn to fight like that?”

 

Lena leaned back in her seat quietly.  “Um, roughing it in the streets of Arizona, I had to pick up several things in order to survive.”

 

“You were homeless?” Nick asked gently, leaning closer to give her his undivided attention.

 

She nodded, “I ran away from an abusive foster home when I was sixteen.  I didn’t want to risk being tossed back by a social worker who didn’t believe me, so I dodged the system and lived on the streets.  You have to learn how to fight people off when you’re a girl all alone out there.  Soon enough I was aged out so they couldn’t put me back in the system, but I had no education, didn’t finish high school, had a crappy dish washer job.  That’s how I met Kevin.”

 

“Your husband?” Nick questioned.  “How?”

 

She chuckled at the memory, “I was a dish washer in his dad’s restaurant.  He worked there part time while he went to school.  He encouraged me to get my GED and figure out what I wanted to do with my life.  And seeing some of the things I saw in the worse parts of the city, I knew I wanted to help heal people when they got hurt.  Therefore, I became a paramedic.”

 

“Wow,” Nick commented.  “He sounds like he really made a big difference for you.”

 

Lena smiled tightly, eyes welling up, “Yeah, he did.  Still, none of the fighting skills or medical knowledge helped when he died.”

 

Nick was quiet for a moment, not wanting to pry.

 

But Lena knew what he wanted to ask.  “It was a brain aneurism.  Never knew it was there until it killed him instantly one night as he was getting ready to head into work.”  Lena began to cry softly, masking her grief-stricken face with one hand as she did.  “I’m sorry…”

 

“Hey, don’t be sorry,” Nick whispered, scooting his chair closer so he could place his hand on her shoulder and take her limp hand in his.  “You’re still grieving.  That’s absolutely nothing to apologize for.  Your husband sounds like he was a good man, good to you, and you loved each other a lot.” 

 

She sniffled as her tears slowed, hand still over her face.

 

“Look at me,” he urged her, gently tugging her hand away from her eyes.  She reluctantly looked into his.  “We’re all here for you.  Me, Monroe, Rosalee.  Not just for the wesen stuff.  For all of it.”

 

Slowly, Lena smiled thankfully, and weakly hugged him.  “Thank you, Nick.”

 

“No need to thank me,” he responded as he pulled away and sat back in his seat.

 

Lena then took his hand, “I need you to promise me something then.”

 

“What is it?” Nick asked.

 

“You need to let me know if something changes with your… condition,” she told him, referencing how becoming a zombie had changed him as a man and a Grimm.  “If something else new happens, or it gets worse.  Whatever it is.  I don’t know what I could do about it, but I want the chance to try and help you too.  I consider you a friend now and I can’t imagine running the risk of getting close to all these new people just for one of you to die on me too.”

 

Nick didn’t think that it would be necessary.  He felt fine.  But he understood her concerns and fears and wanted to ease them for her.  So, he squeezed her hand and said, “Of course.  I promise.”


	5. Good Soldier

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place over 3x11 episode of the same name. Some more looking into Lena's backstory.

"You're going to have dinner with your mother and sister who you haven't seen in seven years?" Lena stared at Rosalee in slight shock from the shop counter. "How do you feel about that?"

Rosalee let out a breath through her nose, "I don't know. I'm trying not to feel anything until we're actually there. I'm glad Monroe is coming. I don't think I could get through it without him."

"I can't imagine he wouldn't agree to go with you," Lena said. "I wish I could offer words of advice. But before the in-laws, I never really had a family. What I have been able to learn is that no matter what, family is complicated and it's always gonna be a process. So, no matter what happens tonight, it's all a part of that process."

"Let's just hope part of the process isn't all of us at each other's throats," Rosalee quipped as she worked on an order at the table.

Lena nudged her, "I don't think your mom would reach out just to yell at you. And it's your father's death anniversary. She probably just wants her family together again."

"I hope you're right," Rosalee sighed.

* * *

Lena had been making her way to her car from the shop after Rosalee skipped off to dinner and got a phone call. She picked out her phone to see Nick's name.

"Hey, is everything okay?" she answered the phone worriedly.

"Everything's fine," Nick assured her. "I just have a favor to ask with a case Hank and I have right now. Are you busy?"

"No, I'm done for the day," she said as she got into her car. "What do you need?"

"Do you remember where my Aunt Marie's trailer is?" he asked. A few days ago, Nick had taken her there to show her all the books and tools and weapons Marie had collected in her trailer of their family once he decided she was ready to see more about wesen and Grimms.

"Yeah, I remember," she said.

"Do you think you could meet me and Hank there?" he asked. "We need some extra eyes to figure out what kind of wesen we've got killing people. It's specific so you don't need to worry, but we just want to find out what we're dealing with."

Lena agreed and drove for the trailer as Nick ran her through what they did know about the wesen. They stabbed their victims in the chest with some kind of spear with scorpion venom. Enough from a six-foot scorpion.

Lena of course, beat them to the trailer and let herself in with the key Nick gave her and started pouring through the books for something that fit what they were looking for. She had been there for over half an hour when Nick and Hank finally arrived.

Nick had greeted her, thanking her for her help before he sat at the table and started piecing together some ripped up letter they'd found in the fireplace at the scene of a double homicide. A man and his wife, the most recent in murders that seemed geared towards four military men who had raped a female soldier four years ago in Iraq.

Hank took the time to introduce himself to her though. "Hey, I'm Hank. You must be Lena."

"That would be me," she smiled as she shook his hand. "I'm told you're in the know about all this wesen stuff. Does that include me?"

Hank shrugged, "What Nick knew at the beginning. Unless you've figured anything new out."

Lena thought briefly about the bolts of odd powers she'd exhibited. Knocking over the jar at Rosalee's shop. Knocking Joe into the wall without touching him. But she didn't mention any of that. It wasn't important. "Unfortunately, no."

Hank gave her a compassionate nod and then gestured to the book in her lap, "What about anything about our killer?"

"That I may have," she said, showing him the page she'd bookmarked. There were a few illustrations of a being with the face of a lion and a giant scorpion tale. "Ever hear of a manticore?"

"A Manticore?" Hank repeated dubiously, peering at the drawing. "It's the right size."

"Well here's what they're about," she said, beginning to read what Nick's ancestor had written about their run-in with a manticore. "I first witnessed what I was later to discover was a Manticore while my command lay siege at the fortress of Hormuz. Pliny the elder described this wesen in his famous Naturalis Historia circa 77 A.D., tracing its origin to ancient Persia. The beast described had a most unusual body, reflected by a physical duality. Part lowen, it also had a scorpion-like tail which could protrude from its spine, having a spike-like nail at the end capable of injecting a great deal of poison. When I attempted to make a move on this wesen, I discovered there were several more in the ranks. I quickly put away my blade to conceal my identity as a Grimm. I was to learn they were some of the most lethal soldiers in our command, for they have no fear of death."

"Whew," Hank sighed out. "I don't like that "no fear of death" thing. It's not healthy." He turned to his partner to ask, "Nick, what do you got?"

Nick seemed disturbed by whatever he was reading. "A confession..." He turned to look over at them grimly. "To the gang rape of Frankie Gonzales. Looks like Troy finished writing it just before he was killed."

Lena sagged into the small couch she was sitting on and she took in what happened to this poor woman four years ago.

"The colonel was right," Hank said. "This is about her."

"She's our Manticore," Nick said, standing with the taped together letter.

"She killed Ron, Troy, and Bobby. There's only one cowboy left," Hank added. They prepared to leave, but Lena stopped them.

"Guys, I'm not sure it's her," she said, setting the book aside.

They turned to her, confused, "What do you mean?"

"I don't think she would want them dead," she said.

"Even after they—" Nick started to ask.

But she cut him off, not wanting to hear that word again, "Yes, even after that. She's a victim but the crime has been ignored. They got away. They denied that what they did was wrong. She would want justice, not revenge. She would want them to own up to what they did, admit it, pay for it. They can't do that if they're dead."

Nick didn't really seem like he agreed with her, but Hank played mediator, "Maybe you're right, maybe not. But whatever's going on definitely has to do with her and we have to talk to her."

"I'm not saying it's not because of what happened to her," she said. "The victim always wants justice. It's who loves the victim that wants revenge. Figure out who loves her."

* * *

Unfortunately for Frankie's case of defense, Nick and Hank found her harassing the last man left at his car when they picked her up, arm still bleeding from where she carved the date of her rape into her skin over and over again. But she still denied everything.

"I didn't kill anyone."

Nick sighed, "Frankie, we know you did. First Bobby Hammond in Phoenix. Then Ron Hurd... you caught him at the VFW."

Frankie looked genuinely surprised, "I didn't even know they were dead."

"You followed him home," Hank pointed out.

"To talk!" she insisted.

"But when you didn't like what he said, you killed him," Hank surmised.

She shook her head strongly, "No, I did not."

"And what about Troy Dodge and his wife?" Nick asked, skeptically. "You didn't kill them either?"

She shook her head again. "No."

Hank didn't seem to understand. "So, what, you tracked down the four men who raped you just to say hi?"

She seemed surprised that they knew so much. Her voice shook as she spoke, "I spent the last four years of my life trying to get past that night... Going over every minute of what happened to me. They got away with it. I'm the only one who's paid for this. I didn't deserve what they did to me. I was a good soldier. All I wanted was for them to confess, and they wouldn't."

Nick paused as she said exactly what Lena seemed to think the situation was. How did she know so confidently without even meeting Frankie? She seemed so sure and it looked like she may have been right. He leaned forward, speaking lowly, "We know what you are."

She turned to him, "What?"

"I'm a Grimm, and you're a Manticore, and that's how you killed them," he deadpanned.

She almost smiled. Almost. "That's what you think?"

"That's what we know," Hank said.

She scoffed at him, "Then you don't know much." She tilted her head and black feathers sprouted out of her skin, as a dark beak grew out of her nose and her eyes turned pale yellow.

Nick leaned back, completely shocked.

"What?" Hank asked, seeing the change in Nick's face as he stared at Frankie.

"She's not a Manticore," he answered, still not believing it.

"What is she?"

"Steinadler."

Frankie tilted her head again and turned back, frowning at them, "It was a Manticore that killed them?"

Hank remembered Lena's parting words to them in the trailer –  _figure out who loves her._

"Who else knows that you're here?"

She frowned at him, "Nobody."

"Frankie, somebody else knows you're here. Who did you tell?" he pushed.

"The only one is my old C.O., but he's in the hospital," she explained. "I went to him looking for help to find these guys. He said I was wasting my time. I didn't care. I had to do something, or I was gonna kill myself. But I did not kill them."

"Colonel Desai?"

She nodded, "He's the only one that gave a damn."

Nick and Hank convinced her to call the Colonel so they could track where he was. Lena was right. Desai must be the Manticore who was getting vengeance on Frankie's behalf. He had even said they deserved what they were getting when he and Nick interviewed him over skype. Only, he obviously wasn't in New York getting chemo.

"Hello."

"Colonel, it's me, sir," Frankie responded to her CO on her cell in an even tone.

"Frankie?"

"How's your treatment going?"

His voice was quiet and resigned. "You know I'm not in the hospital. You're with the police, aren't you?"

Frankie frowned, "Tell me it's not true, what they're saying."

"I'm just getting the justice you deserve," he told her. "I told you they'd never confess. I should have done this years ago. I let you down. I let myself down. I failed in my duty. Take care of yourself, Frankie."

He hung up but it was enough time for them to get the trace. Hank grabbed his coat as he read the address on the map, "He's at the VFW."

Nick and Hank raced to the VFW, hearing the clear sounds of a fight going on inside when they arrived. They drew their weapons as they entered the bar, seeing old man Desai and the last rapist, McCabe, standing in front of each other. McCabe was glaring deadly at Desai with a knife in his hand.

"McCabe, back away!" Nick ordered loudly.

But McCabe advanced on the older CO and stabbed him in the gut with the steel blade. Desai let out a pained groan and fell to the floor.

Hank turned his weapon on McCabe, "Drop it. Turn around. On the ground. Hands where I can see them."

McCabe still seemed cocky and relaxed as he dropped the knife and kneeled, folding his hands behind his head. "It was self-defense."

"Yeah?" Hank huffed as he grabbed his hands. "Not what we saw." He cuffed McCabe and started roughly pulling him out of the VFW.

Nick was bent over Desai, trying to block his bleeding wound. The old man looked up at Nick, breathing painfully, and said, "You can't arrest him for what he did to Frankie, but you can for what he did to me."

* * *

Nick and Hank watched Frankie carefully as she ready the confession Troy had written right before he was killed.

"Troy wrote this?"

Hank nodded, "Apparently, he couldn't live with it either."

Frankie let out a huge sigh of relief. Like all her pain had reached a plateau. "This is all I ever wanted."

"The D.A. will probably want you to testify," Hank told her.

She nodded strongly, "I can do that."

Nick felt she should know one more thing. "The colonel left the hospital four weeks ago. They'd only given him three months to live. This was his shot at redemption."

There was a flash of grief in her eyes. She wished he didn't feel the need to kill for her. Or die for her, like he had. But she couldn't deny her appreciation that he cared so much for her and making things right for her. "The colonel was a good soldier."

"And so were you," Hank said.

* * *

It was dark when Nick got back home, and found Lena reading  _Sense and Sensibility_ on the couch with a glass of wine. She gave him a weak smile as she saw him walking in. "Did you close the case?"

"Uh, yeah," he murmured. "Just not the way we thought."

"How so?" she asked as he came to sit at her feet on the couch.

Nick sighed, head still wrapping around his thoughts. "Well, you were right. About pretty much everything. Frankie wasn't the manticore killing them. She just wanted them to confess to what happened. But her old CO, always felt he failed her when he couldn't get her justice after she reported it. And he was dying. So, this was his last chance to make things right." He looked at her, sagging into the couch. "You called it."

"It was just a gut feeling," she said, setting her wine and book on the end table.

"I think it was more than that," Nick said carefully. "You sounded so sure. You knew what you were talking about. Like you'd been through something similar."

Her whole face dropped. She gripped her wine and drank the rest of the glass without saying a word.

"I can't imagine…" Nick started to say, thinking about what she'd told him about living on the streets.

But she cut him off, voice shaken yet strong. "I don't want to talk about it."

"I'm here if…"

"I don't want to talk about it," she repeated, standing from the couch, gathering her book, and making her way upstairs to the guest room without saying goodnight.


	6. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rosalee and Monroe get engaged, and don't expect the kind of fallout that happens. While reliving memories of her own wedding, Lena gets an odd email that brings up a lot of new questions, as well as a new display of her mystery abilities. Meanwhile, something powerful and dangerous is after Nick.

Lena waited for her pop tarts to finish toasting in the toaster, leaning idly against the kitchen counter, thinking about her time here in Portland.  It had been strange, but enlightening.  They were still no closer to figuring out what she was, and she was still catching up on wesen and how the new world she was in worked.  But she had friends now.  That she was getting closer to and trusting.  She and Rosalee had gotten close, often getting together for lunch or drinks or just at the shop to talk about what they wanted to talk about.  She and Monroe had developed a rapport and were becoming friends as well.  She and Hank had jokes, but she didn’t see him as often. 

 

And she and Nick had become friendly roommates, close enough.  Sometimes she found herself opening up to him in a way that frightened her.  She wasn’t ready to get so close to someone.  Especially a man.  It made her feel like she was somehow betraying her husband, even if it wasn’t romantic.  But Kevin used to be the one she opened up to, cried to, shared with.

 

Now he was gone, and she was left to build a new life.  She hoped it turned out as happy as the one she used to have with him. 

* * *

Nick was just getting up in the morning when he got a call on his phone.  He rubbed a towel through his wet hair as he went to see who was calling and saw Jessie’s name.  He dropped the towel and quickly grabbed it and answered, “Jessie!?”

 

“I’m okay.  Everyone’s okay,” Jessie started immediately.  “We shut down the deadpool.  It’s all over.”

 

He let out a sigh of relief, “Thank god.  Are you absolutely sure?”

 

“Yes, it’s done,” she said.  “How are you?”

 

“Fine,” he said.  “Nothing big has happened here for a bit.  Well, except for Lena.”

 

“Lena?” she asked.  “Who’s that?”

 

“A new friend,” he explained.  “She showed up at the Spice Shop looking for Freddy, calling him her Uncle.”

 

“Wasn’t that Rosalee’s brother?” Jessie questioned.

 

“Yeah,” he answered.  “Apparently, Freddy was friends with her father and looked out for her even if she grew up in the system in Arizona.  Another kicker, she’s a hybrid wesen that had no idea until we saw her half-woge.”

 

“Half-woge?” Jessie repeated dubiously.

 

“Yeah, we didn’t see her full form.  Her eyes looked like Rosalee’s and we looked through Freddy’s stuff and found out her dad was a fuchsbau but we don’t know what her mother was,” he told her.  “We also found out that someone has been after her – probably because she was a hybrid wesen – and Freddy was protecting her.  He’d been brewing this tea that suppressed her wesen side and hiding her location.  But he died, so no more tea.  She’ll woge any day now.”

 

“Why’d she come to Portland when Freddy isn’t even there?” she asked.

 

“She didn’t know,” he said.  “Someone posed as Freddy and had been emailing her.  They lured her to move to Portland.  She’s been staying with me until we figure out who it is.”

 

“Wow, so you have a woman living with you?” Jessie questioned.  “How is that working out?”

 

“It’s fine.  She’s pretty easy to get along with,” Nick told her.  “It hasn’t really been an imposition.”

 

“That’s good,” her voice sounded unsure, but she didn’t voice any doubts.  “Let me know if anything really dangerous is going on.  You know I’d be there within twenty-four hours if you needed my help.”

 

“I know, but I promise, everything is under control,” he assured her.  “Just focus on school and enjoying your time with your friends.”

 

“Just promise to let me know if there’s trouble,” Jessie repeated.

 

“I’m a cop, there’s trouble every week,” he told her.

 

“Our kind of trouble.  Big trouble,” she clarified.  “You know what I mean.”

 

Nick smiled lightly, “Yeah, yeah, I promise.”

 

“I gotta go to school,” Jessie told him.  “I’ll talk to you later.”

 

“Be safe, bye,” he said with her as they hung up and he headed downstairs.  He paused when he saw Lena at the table munching on a pop tart.  “Morning.”

 

She swallowed her bite and looked over, “Morning.  Rosalee called me earlier all excited about something.  Asked me to meet her at the spice shop.  What do you have going on today?”

 

“The usual unless—” he was cut off by his voice ringing.  It was Hank.  He quickly answered it, “Hank—That’s bad. Where—I’ll meet you at the precinct.”

 

“What's wrong?” Lena asked when she saw his face turn serious.

 

“Someone killed a highway patrol officer,” he told her.

 

Lena gasped.  “Oh, my God.  Why does that involve you?  Don’t the cars have cameras?”

 

“Yeah, but this doesn’t seem like a normal highway car chase,” he told her.  “I got to get out there.”

 

“Okay, be careful,” she told him.

* * *

“Okay, I’m here,” Lena said as she walked into the Spice Shop, seeing a beaming Rosalee practically bouncing on her feet behind the counter.

 

“Thank God, I wanted you to be the first person I told!” she squealed uncharacteristically, skipping around the counter to give her a big hug.

 

“Told what?” Lena asked, confusedly hugging her back.

 

Rosalee pulled back with an ear-to-ear grin and waved her hand in Lena’s face, showing off her diamond engagement ring.

 

Lena gasped, checking out the new jewelry, “Oh, my God.  Monroe proposed?”

 

“Yes,” Rosalee sighed out.  “It was so sweet and romantic.  He insisted we go out to dinner at this expensive restaurant.  Two bottles of wine!  I just knew he was going to ask me.  But then he didn’t!  And we went home.”

 

“What?” Lena frowned, confused.  “Then how’d he ask?”

 

“Well, we got home, and I was so disappointed, so I just wanted to go to bed,” Rosalee excitedly explained.  “But Monroe insisted on showing me this cuckoo clock.  A little bird popped out with the ring and his voice chimed on saying, ‘Will you marry me?’  Then he got own on his knee and asked again and I said yes.”

 

“Oh, that’s so cute,” Lena smiled widely now.  “Whatever you need help with when it comes to planning, let me know.  I love weddings.  The ceremony Kevin and I had was absolutely magical to us.  I even still have my dress.  So, I’m here to help.”

 

“Aw, that’s sweet,” Rosalee took her hands.  “All we have come up with so far is an outdoor Spring wedding.”

 

“That will be so beautiful,” Lena smiled.  “Oh, I’m so happy for you.”  Lena hugged Rosalee again, tighter.

 

“Thank you,” Rosalee gushed once more before letting go.  “Would you tell me about your wedding?”

 

Lena smiled tightly, but with real happiness in her eyes.  “Sure, of course.  What do you want to know?”

 

“Well, how about where?” Rosalee suggested.

 

“Well, we didn’t want a Church wedding or anything,” Lena explained, getting a faraway look in her eye.  “And we wanted something small and intimate.  So, we got married at this place called Havasu Creek in Cataract Canyon.  The waterfall is almost this blue-green color because of the calcium carbonate levels.  The waterfall is also small, so it wasn’t too loud to hear our vows.  It was mostly Kevin’s family.  Some of my friends from work, his too from his residency.  Freddy came.”

 

“He did?” Rosalee asked softly, imagining her brother at this woman’s wedding.  Probably as her only pseudo-family.

 

Lena smiled.  “Yeah.  He and Kevin’s dad both walked me down the aisle.  Kevin’s residency director performed the ceremony for us.  His mom made wedding cupcakes, so everyone was guaranteed something for dessert.”

 

“Did you have tables or flowers or any decorations?” Rosalee asked, getting lost in Lena’s story.

 

“The Canyon had park benches,” she said.  “So, we decorated them with these light blue-green tablecloths and had cactus flowers in pots over them.  The guests got to bring them home with them at the end of the night.  For food we had an order ahead menu – steak, alfredo pasta, or veggie paella.  We got married in the Fall because it’s still the desert.”

 

Rosalee laughed softly.  “I imagine it would be hot.  What about your dress?”

 

“I’ll show you it, if you like,” Lena offered.  “I have our wedding album too.”

 

Rosalee took her friend’s hand, “I’d love to see it.”

 

Lena had tears welling in her eyes, “That day was probably one of the best in my life.  I can’t wait for you to have your perfect day too.”

 

Rosalee went in for a hug as the bell above the door dinged as it was pushed open.  The women pulled apart to see Monroe walking in.

 

“Something wrong?” he asked warily when he saw their emotional eyes.

 

Lena laughed slightly as she rubbed the tears away from her cheeks.  “No, these are happy tears.  Rosalee told me about the engagement.”

 

Monroe smiled in relief, “Oh!  Good.”

 

“Yeah, good!” Lena concluded, going over to hug Monroe tight.  “I know I haven’t known you all that long but I’m happy for both of you.”

 

“You’ve known us long enough,” Monroe assured her, hugging her back.  “You fit right in.”

 

As they pulled away, the newly engaged couple greeted each other with a quick kiss.  And then Rosalee asked, “I didn't think you were coming in this early.”

 

“Neither did I, but good news. Just wanted to let you know...” Monroe trailed off.

 

“What?”

 

He looked sheepish.  “Called my folks and told them we're getting married.”

 

Rosalee smiled sweetly, “Oh. How'd that go?”

 

“Actually, pretty well,” he told her.  “I have to say, they were very excited. You know, my dad wanted to know how old you were and how much money you make.”

 

“Seriously?” Lena gaped.

 

Monroe flushed in mild embarrassment, “Yeah. My dad's very... Kind of old-fashioned. Sort of on the blunt side. Some people are charmed, others are alarmed.”

 

“Okay, so when am I gonna meet them?” Rosalee asked.

 

“Oh, there's no hurry,” Monroe insisted comically.  “And by "no hurry" I mean the later, the better.”  He was interrupted by his phone ringing, but he answered it with a smile, “Good morning.”  He smiled at Rosalee as he greeted the person on the other end, “Hi, mom.”  His smile began to steadily turn into a wary one as he tried to get a word into the phone conversation with his mother, “Okay, that’s…. I'm glad... I…” but his mom hung up on him.  He looked dazed as he told Rosalee, “My parents are coming out to meet you tomorrow.”

 

“Oh, wow, okay,” her eyes widened.  “I guess that's good, right?”

 

He didn’t seem to agree.  “They're staying with us.”

 

Rosalee’s eyes widened into saucers, “In the house?”

 

Monroe started to babble a little, “In Nick's room. They always stay in Nick's room. I mean, it was their room before it was Nick's room.”

 

And Rosalee started to panic.

 

“Rose, it’s not the end of the world,” Lena tried to reassure her.  “It’s probably best to get the first meeting out of the way sooner so you have time to bond before the wedding.”

 

“Yeah, but we have so much to do!” Rosalee countered.  She turned back to her fiancé.  “Please tell me that they know we're living together.”

 

Monroe turned sheepish.

 

“Monroe!” both Rosalee and Lena chastised the blutbad. 

* * *

Lena agreed to watch the shop for the engaged couple while they raced to get their house ready for Monroe’s parents’ arrival tomorrow night.  She didn’t know a lot about what was good for stuff, but she knew the inventory if someone came in knowing what they wanted.  And Rosalee was slowly teaching her about what the stuff was anyway.

 

Luckily, she had her laptop with her so she could continually check her inbox for patient emails and appointment reminders and such.  It was around midday when she got an email from some address she’d never seen before – bheadr.  She almost didn’t open it, but the subject line read urgent for Lena Kuhn-Sato.

 

So, she clicked it and softly head it to herself.

 

_“Lena, good to hear you got to Portland safe.  Oracle let me know. Tell N money not spent has been deposited for safekeeping.   Weather too hot now.  Returning north to find L. Safer for N to communicate through you.  Do not respond to this as I am in an unsecured location. M.”_

 

Who was M?

 

Lena used her lack of appointments for the rest of the day to go to Nick’s house and trace the email, to try and figure out where and from whom it was sent.  She was savvy enough to trace location, but there was no way for her to know who beheadr was.

 

“Lena?” Nick called as he got home later that day.

 

“I’m upstairs!” she called from the guest room.  “Can you come up and look at something and tell me what you think?”

 

Nick frowned at the strange request but jogged upstairs and said, “Sure, what’s up?”

 

When he got to her room the door was open and she was sitting criss-crossed on the bed with her laptop and a notebook with a few lines scribbled on it.  “I got this weird email from bheadr?  They signed it M, though.  I tracked it to Kerkira, on the Greek border of Albania, but they said they are heading north.”

 

“Wait, you said ‘M’?” Nick stopped her.

 

She looked up at him, “Yeah, does that mean something to you?”

 

Nick was still trying to get it through his head.  “Well, my mother.  She signs her emails as M.  And uses the address beheadr.”

 

“Isn’t that a little on the nose for a Grimm hiding out?” Lena titled her head thoughtfully.  “And why would she be emailing me?  How did she even know about me?”

 

“I don’t know,” Nick told her.  “I haven’t spoken to her since before you came along.  Obviously, communication with her is sparse since the world thinks she’s dead.”

 

“Well, come see,” she turned her laptop out so he could read the email.  “Maybe you can shed some light on what she’s talking about.”

 

Nick peered at the computer and read it out loud, “Lena, good to hear you got to Portland safe.  Oracle let me know…”

 

“Yeah, who is Oracle and why do they get more than a letter?” Lena posited.

 

Nick idly scratched his chin in thought, “All I can think of is this woman that’s helped my cousin, Jessie.”

 

“Rosalee told me about her when we were talking about hybrids,” Lena commented.  “She’s half Grimm and half vampire?”

 

“Yeah,” Nick nodded.  “And she almost died.  But this woman, the mother of Jessie’s assigned guard is some powerful Seer who foretold what was gonna happen and warned her.  She’s helped out with other things but no one but her sons talk to her directly.  I don’t even know where she is or that my mother knew her.”

 

“Well, if she’s this all-powerful Seer, and she told your mom about me, what else could she know about me?” Lena asked aloud.

 

“I wish I knew,” Nick told her honestly.

 

“Okay, keep reading,” she quietly urged him.

 

Nick looked at the screen again, “Tell 'N'"... That would be me.”

 

“Yeah, I get that now.”

 

“Money not spent has been deposited for safekeeping.”

 

“Did you give her money or something?” Lena asked.

 

“No, I gave her these coins,” Nick tried to explain.  “The coins of Zakynthos.  They’re tainted with arsenic and mercury.  Skin contact affects people, makes them hungry for power and influence.  Human or wesen.  But Grimms have a resistance against them for some reason.  They’re from ancient Greece and whoever possesses them uses them to control masses, build empires.  But the result is always catastrophic.  Greece, Rome, Germany.”

 

“Germany?” Lena questioned.

 

“Hitler,” Nick revealed.  “Eventually the coins fell into Grimm hands, meant to guard them.  My mom had them, but they came after her.  Killed my dad and at the time I thought, her.  Last year, she showed up, told me what really happened all those years ago.  The coins had shown up in Portland and I was able to get them and give them to her to destroy them.”

 

“Destroy them?” she quizzed.  “They sound a bit too powerful to be destroyed.”

 

“They can only be destroyed where they were made.  Zakynthos,” he revealed.  “‘Money not spent’ means she didn’t make it there.  But she's hidden them somewhere, hopefully safe.”  He continued reading, “Weather too hot now.”

 

“That can’t be good,” Lena breathed.  “That has to mean someone’s after her.”

 

Nick agreed warily, “She's made a lot of enemies over the years. "Returning north to find 'L.'"”

 

“L can’t mean me since she used my name in the beginning of the email,” Lena thought out loud.

 

“Probably the Lauffer?” Nick guessed.  “The Resistance, the groups of people who are uniting against the Royals.”

 

“All of this is giving me a migraine,” Lena complained, holding her temples.

 

Nick laughed weakly, “Honestly, I am just getting up to speed with this myself.”  He went on reading, “Safer for 'N' to communicate through you.  Do not respond to this as I am in an unsecured location. 'M.'”  Nick returned her laptop to the bed and frowned, “I don't know if that is a good idea.”

 

“She said it’s safer,” Lena said.  “If people are looking for her, then they’re gonna try to get to her through her.  They won’t be looking at me.”

 

“I can’t put you in the middle of this,” Nick argued.

 

Lena gave him a look, “Hello?  I’m already in the middle.”  She gave him a more serious look, “Nick, you took me in and are and will protect me from whoever lured me to Portland.  Let me do something to protect you.  You’re my friend, let me help.”

 

Nick looked into her eyes and saw how serious she was.  He reluctantly nodded, “But you have to be very careful how you deal with this.”

 

“I know,” she said softly.

 

After that discussion, Nick finally told her he was going to stop by Monroe’s to talk to him about a wesen that had killed and scalped the highway patrol officer and a green beret.  He was Wildesheer who was collecting the scalps of warriors to make a coat of them that would help him absorb their strength and skill.

 

Lena gave him an aghast look, “Some beastly wesen is scalping officers and vets and you wait until now to tell me?  Nick!”

 

“Sorry, but I was kind of preoccupied with my case,” Nick excused himself.

 

“Still I deserve to know if you’re in danger,” Lena complained.

 

“I’m not in uniform, I won’t be a target,” he tried to tell her.

 

She huffed.  “Uniform or not, you fit the bill as a warrior.  I doubt these are his first two kills which means he came to Portland on purpose.  What are the odds that that doesn’t have anything to do with you being here?”

 

Nick could see her point.  “Well, let’s see what Monroe knows.”

 

Lena jumped to her feet, “Fine, but we gotta make it quick.  Monroe’s parents are flying in tonight to meet Rosalee.”

 

“What, why?”

 

Lena got her shoes and led him to the door, “Because they’re getting married!”

 

“That’s fantastic,” Nick said as he locked the door behind them and led her to his car.

 

They idly chatted about the engagement and the scalper on their way to Monroe’s house.  But they both frowned when, as they were pulling up, they saw an upset looking Rosalee get into her car and drive off.

 

“Oh no!” Lena gasped as she got out of the car with Nick and went to ring the doorbell of the house.

 

Monroe opened it quickly, saying in relief, “Rosalee!”  But grimaced when he saw them, “Oh no, Nick…”

 

“We just saw Rosalee driving off, is everything okay?” Lena asked quickly as she and Nick walked in.

 

“What happened?” Nick asked.

 

“Who is this?” a hard and angry voice asked.  They turned to see an older couple in the living room, looking just as upset as Rosalee had.

 

“Rosalee left, which is what I think you two should do now,” Monroe said, aiming the last angry bit at the couple, who Lena assumed was his parents.

 

“I thought they weren’t due for another hour,” Lena gasped.

 

“Plane landed early for once,” Monroe grumbled.

 

“We go, we are not coming back,” his dad, Bart, growled.

 

Monroe wasn’t fazed, “That's fine with me, dad.”

 

“Enough!” Bart shouted as his wife tried to calm him down.  “We're done. He needs to figure out who he is!”  his growls turned more animalistic as Lena watched something shift under his skin, and then his whole face changed to look like Monroe’s had when he first woged for her.

 

She seized up when his gaze fell on Nick.  Shit, he must have seen Nick’s eyes go black.  Alice woged too in response and looked just as beastly as her husband.

 

Bart looked shocked first and then murderous.  “A Grimm!” he shouted as he lunged for Nick.

 

Monroe stepped in front of them, “Mom, dad, no!”

 

Len let out a terrified gasp and tried to block herself with her arms.  Right in front of Monroe, a thick translucent wall the color of milky sky blue appeared.  Bart and Alice smacked into it at full lunge and were knocked down, landing on the coffee table before tumbling to the ground.  It seemed to knock the woge out of them too since their faces looked human when they got up.

 

Monroe and Nick seemed just as alarmed at the turn of events.  “What the hell is that?” Monroe asked no one in particular.

 

“I think it was me,” Lena whispered almost too inaudibly to be heard.  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

 

Nick put an arm on her shoulder, “It’s okay – we’ll figure it out.”

 

“Later,” Monroe added.  “Do you think you can make it go away?”

 

Lena just focused on relaxing.  Feeling safe enough with Nick at her side, she let out a slow breath and the wall seemed to dissipate.

 

Bart and Alice were still huffing and puffing as Monroe exclaimed to them, “Everybody, stop! Nick is a friend.”

 

“A friend?” Bart growled.  “He's a Grimm!”

 

His mother seemed confused and upset, “You're friends with a Grimm?”

 

“Yes,” Monroe said strongly.

 

“Let me try and understand something here,” his father responded, already stewing.  “You're Blutbaden. I'm Blutbaden. Your mother's Blutbaden. He's a Grimm!”

 

“I can explain,” Monroe tried.

 

“And you let him into your house,” Alice said, shaking.

 

Monroe gave them a look, “Did you not hear what I just said? Nick is a friend.”

 

Bart scoffed, speaking ostensibly to his wife, “First he's engaged to a Fuchsbau, then he becomes friends with a Grimm.  And whatever she is!” he gestured to Lena distastefully.

 

Lena narrowed her eyes, “What is your problem with Rosalee?  Is that why she left?”

 

“They’re Fuchsbau and Blutbad!” Bart exclaimed like she should understand.  “It’s unnatural.  It’ll never work.”

 

Lena glared, “This isn’t Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.  Rosalee and Monroe love each other!  They’re getting married.  This should be the happiest time of their lives and you’re ruining it with this racist bullshit!?”  She took a quick, steadying breath, and turned to Monroe.  “I’m going to go check on Rosalee, talk to her.”  She gave Monroe a quick kiss on the cheek and patted Nick’s shoulder before taking off, already calling for a cab to pick her up.

 

When she finally got to the shop, Rosalee was slumped against the door sobbing into her knees.  Lena pushed her way in and sat with her friend, taking her tearstained face on her shoulder and embracing her tightly.

 

When Rosalee quieted a little, Lena said, “So, I met Monroe’s lovely parents.”

 

Rosalee scoffed at the term ‘lovely.’  “I can’t believe they’re so ignorant.”

 

“I don’t understand it myself,” Lena admitted.  “I read them the riot act a little before I came here.  And I can tell you that Monroe was pretty pissed at them too.”

 

“I just…” Rosalee sighed, at a loss to explain how she felt.

 

“I know,” Lena said.  “I know it feels huge right now.  But you have to remember what’s more important.  You and Monroe love each other.  You’re perfect together.  No matter what anyone has to say about it, that part hasn’t changed.  That part will never change.”

 

“What if it does?” Rosalee sniffed.  “I can’t come between Monroe and his family.”

 

“You’re not,” Lena whispered to her, stroking her hair.  “ _You_ are not the problem, Rosalee.  You have to remember that.  Monroe’s parents will either come around or they won’t but at the end of the day, you and Monroe are each other’s family and that’s all you need for your future together.”

 

“Thank you,” Rosalee said to her in a weak voice.  Eventually, Rosalee told her to go back to Nick’s and get some sleep.  She would sleep on the cot in the shop and just rest before she dealt more with what had happened with Monroe’s parents.

 

When Lena got back, Nick was nursing a beer on the couch, looking pensive and upset.

 

“What’s wrong?” she asked, curling next to him on the couch.

 

Nick regaled her with the slight fight he and Monroe got into after she left, and Monroe’s parents stormed out.  Monroe asked why he had come over in the first place and he’d admitted it was for help with his case.  Monroe got upset, talking about how that was all he was good for with Nick, and Nick denied it and left.  But now that he thought about it all, he had to sigh, “Maybe he’s right.  Maybe I do count on him too much.”

 

“He’s your friend, he doesn’t have a problem helping you and visa versa,” Lena disputed.  “He wasn’t really upset at you, he was upset about the whole night.”

 

“Maybe,” Nick pondered.  “But I should stop asking him for help for a while.”

 

“Maybe give wesen talk a break,” she agreed.

 

Nick turned to her, resting his elbows on his knees.  “What happened back when Monroe’s parents, that wall… has that happened before?”

 

Lena frowned.  She was hoping he would forget all about that.  “Not exactly.”

 

He stared at her, waiting for more of an explanation.  “What does that mean?”

 

“Well, weird stuff has been happening, just a few times,” she explained.  “Not very often, just kind of in heightened emotional states, I guess.”

 

“Stuff like what?”

 

Lena grimaced as she confessed to him.  “Well, a few weeks ago, when I first got here… Rosalee and I were talking about everything and I was just really frustrated and really overwhelmed, and then all of the sudden this jar got knocked over by this… spontaneous wind?  And when Joe broke in and knocked you out, I shoved him into a wall without touching him.  And tonight, I got scared when Monroe’s parents went to attack and that… barrier appeared.  I don’t know how it works other than it seems to come out when I get worked up.”

 

“Why didn’t you tell me before?” Nick asked, sounding a little offended that she hadn’t trusted him.

 

Lena sighed, troubled, “Well, Rosalee said the only wesen she knew of that could do things like that was hexenbiests.  We were worried that it meant my mom was one.  And I know what Adalind put you through.”

 

“So, you thought I’d hurt you?” Nick asked, standing up.

 

Lena stood quickly, “No!  I didn’t know how you would react.  Hexenbiests don’t seem to have any kind of good reputation.  And we didn’t know for sure either way.  It seemed easier not to mention it if it turned out not to be the case.”

 

“Lena, even if you are half-hexenbiest that doesn’t change who you are,” Nick told her genuinely.  “Even then, it might not be the truth.  We’ll figure it out, okay?”

 

Lena nodded quickly, hugging him and whispering, “Okay.” 

* * *

The next morning, Lena was just waking up, after having nothing but nightmares the night before, and wandering downstairs to see Nick already sipping coffee.  “Morning.”

 

She yawned, “Morning.”

 

“How are you feeling about last night?” Nick asked slowly.

 

“Well, I trust you’re not gonna cut my head off,” she weakly joked.

 

Nick gave her a look, “I heard you screaming last night.”

 

She averted her eyes, “I’m not scared of you, Nick.  I promise you that.”

 

“But you are scared,” he said.

 

“Well, yeah, weren’t you when you started seeing wesen and didn’t know what the hell it was?” she pointed out.  “Last month, I was a normal, albeit down on her luck, woman trying to get a fresh start in a new city.  And my fresh start kicked off with wesen exist, I’m a rare hybrid of them, and I start moving things without touching them.”

 

“I understand,” Nick said slowly.  “I definitely had an adjustment period when I became a Grimm.  It was confusing and scary.  I imagine you feel the same way.  But you can trust me.  I am here to help you through this.  We’ll figure out what’s really going on.  Maybe I can call Jessie and see if she can get in touch with the Seer.  Maybe she knows something.”

 

“That would be nice, but I can’t help but feel that it won’t be as simple as that,” she said softly.

 

Nick went to respond but then his phone rang.  He gave her an apologetic smile so he could answer it.  “Burkhardt.”  Lena watched as he instantly frowned, “Where was the body found? Another one in uniform. I'll meet you at the precinct.”

 

“The scalper killed another officer?” Lena asked in shock.

 

Nick nodded, “Yeah.”

 

“Be careful, Nick,” Lena requested as he headed out to work.  Once he was gone, she hopped into her SUV to head to the shop and see if Rosalee was feeling any better after last night.  She walked in to see Rosalee idly working in front of the counter and came to hug her.  “How are you doing?”

 

“Oh, a pleasant mixture of sadness, anger, resentment, and bitterness,” Rosalee answered.  “Monroe came here after you left.  He went to confront his parents this morning.”

 

“I can’t imagine it’s going to go better than it seemed to go last night.”

 

Rosalee grimaced and then said, “How's Nick doing? I heard he had his own meet and greet with Monroe's parents.”

 

“Yeah, it went south after I left too,” Lena admitted.  “Nick felt really bad about how things were left between him and Monroe.”

 

“Monroe was in no place to deal with anybody last night,” Rosalee said.  “What did Nick need? Maybe I can help.”

 

“You don’t need to hear about that, you have more important things on your mind,” Lena told her.

 

“Maybe this will help keep my mind off of it,” she suggested.

 

“Well, this wesen – or at least, Nick thinks it’s wesen – has been killing men in uniform and scalping them,” Lena explained.

 

Rosalee’s face instantly dropped, “The victims were scalped?”

 

“Yeah, it’s really scary,” Lena said.

 

The bell above the door jingled and the women turned to see a slumped Monroe wandering in.  “Hey, Lena.”

 

“Hey, Monroe, how are you doing?” Lena asked.

 

“How did it go?” Rosalee added.

 

Monroe grimaced, “Let's just say it went. I feel really bad about what happened to Nick last night. Some of the things I said...”

 

“Don’t worry about it, Monroe,” Lena waved him off.  “He feels really awful too.”

 

Rosalee’s face turned serious as she turned to her fiancé, “Did Nick tell you why he stopped by?”

 

Monroe shook his head, “No, no, my folks kind of got in the way of that.”

 

“Somebody is murdering people and scalping them,” Rosalee said.

 

Monroe’s face turned ghostly, “Caccia Morta. But it can't be, could it?”

 

Rosalee was frowning.  “I mean, that's what it sounds like.”

 

Monroe looked worried.  “If it is, that's really serious. I've got to talk to Nick.”  Monroe turned and exited the shop quickly.

 

“What is Caccia Morta?  Is that like Wildesheer?” Lena questioned Rosalee.

 

“Sort of,” Rosalee said.  “They’re very dangerous, you need to let Nick and Monroe handle this.”

 

“I live with Nick, and I believe that whoever is doing this is after him,” Lena insisted.  “Please tell me what he’s going to be up against.”

 

Rosalee sighed.  “Well, it’s attached to something roughly translated as "the wild hunt." It's like the gates of hell open up and let demons loose on the world. According to legend, the first thing you hear is terrible thunder and howling wind, as if the Wildesheer are being blown right out of hell.  They're hunters, and their life's blood is built upon killing powerful warriors.”

 

“And I’m guessing a Grimm is the most powerful warrior of all,” Lena breathed.  Her pager beeped on her belt and she pulled it out to read the message.

 

“You have a pager?” Rosalee questioned.

 

“Everyone in the medical field has them,” Lena said absently as she pulled out her phone to call the number paged to her.  “This is Lena Kuhn-Sato—right now?... No one else can—I’m on my way.”

 

“Everything okay?” Rosalee asked.

 

“There’s a woman in breech at the clinic and they need all hands-on deck with half the other midwives out sick,” Lena groaned.  “I really need you to let me know if anything happens to Nick and Monroe, or if the coast is clear.  I will have my phone.”

 

“Okay, I promise,” Rosalee responded as Lena rushed to the clinic. 

* * *

Lena ended up working at the clinic with the mother in breech for ten hours.  Her training and experience as a paramedic kicked in and she ended up turning the baby with her hands and delivering it herself while the doctor focused on making the mother comfortable.  She was so dead tired once they were done checking over the newborn and patching up the mother.  The doctor told her to take a name in the break room before she thought of driving home.  She made a show of doing so before sneaking out.

 

She had texts from Rosalee saying that Nick, Monroe and surprisingly Monroe’s dad fought off three Wildesheer at the trailer.  And that they were okay.

 

She was just eager to see so for herself.  She had called Monroe from the road and he assured her that he was fine, also mentioning that she and Nick were invited to dinner tomorrow night with his parents to start smoothing everything over.  When she pulled up to the house and saw Nick’s car, she sighed in relief.

 

She quickly went into the house and saw Nick dozing on the couch.  He must have heard her because he started stirring as she dropped her keys in the bowl and dropped her bag by the stairs.

 

“You’re okay?” she asked quietly.

 

He nodded quickly, rubbing his eyes.  “Have you been at work this whole time?”

 

“Childbirth takes a while,” she explained shortly, coming over to the couch as he stood so she could hug him.  “I got pretty scared for you guys this time.  It was different.”

 

“I know but I’m fine, we’re all fine,” Nick told her, hugging her back.

 

Lena sagged a little into his chest out of exhaustion. 

 

Nick seemed to be able to tell as he held her way and said, “We should both get some sleep.  I scalped some scalpers and you helped bring life into the world.  We need rest.”

 

Lena chuckled weakly, “You’re right.  Goodnight.”

 

“Goodnight.” 

* * *

Nick and Lena did go to Monroe’s and Rosalee’s to have dinner with their newly engaged friends and Monroe’s parents.  Of course it was a tense affair.  To help – and partly to make a better impression on Monroe’s parents – Lena made candied asparagus and Rice Krispy treats to contribute.  Her and Rosalee were nose-deep in their wine glasses while dinner finished cooking.

 

“It’s going to be just fine,” Lena tried to reassure her friend.  “Not great… but fine.”

 

“As long as there’s not another showdown, I’ll count tonight in the win column,” Rosalee said as she picked dinner out of the oven.

 

“It means a lot to their character that they’re still here, right?” Lena posed.  “That they’re trying.  They love their son, and once they see how great you two are together, they’ll love you too.  Everything will work out the way it’s supposed to.”

 

“I hope you’re right,” Rosalee whispered as the women started setting dinner out for the others.

 

Faced with everyone, everyone was quiet.  Lena could see Nick flinch a little bit when people scraped their silverware against their plates.

 

At some point, Monroe’s mom turned to Lena and asked, “So… what are you, dear?”

 

And Lena only said, “A midwife,” as she took a sip of her wine.

 

Nick, Monroe, and Rosalee stifled grins at her response.

 

“At least now we can move on to actual wedding planning,” Lena commented later.  She looked at Rosalie and Monroe.  “Have you guys set a date yet?”

 

Lena was started when her question prompted Monroe’s father to woge.  Which prompted Monroe to woge, then his mother to woge, and then Rosalee.  She sat back silently as Nick got to his feet with his steak knife.

 

“Everybody just calm down. Okay?”

 

Everyone let out sighs as they woged back and tried to calm down.

 

“Sorry,” Monroe’s dad grunted.  “This is just gonna take a little getting used to.”


	7. Hellgate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick is distracted from his latest case of a pregnant woman being attacked by Lena being distant. Meanwhile, Wu is suffering a mental break after seeing too much.

When Nick got called out in the middle of the night, he had made sure to be quiet leaving. But as he passed Lena's room, the door was cracked open and he could see that it was empty. He quickly checked downstairs but saw no sign of her. Her keys were gone and when he left the house, her car was gone too. Had he missed a note? Where was she?

He didn't have time to dwell on it as he met up with Hank and got to the scene of an attack on a pregnant woman. Apparently, she was close friends with Wu, so he was there and wired up. When they spoke with her doctor while she was resting at the hospital, they found out she'd been sedated, and something stabbed her through the naval and drained some of her amniotic fluid.

When he got home, her car was in front of the house again and there was a note by the key bowl.

'Saw you weren't home when I got back. Got called out to a midwife emergency. Back now, asleep.'

Nick felt something weird with the note as he read it. It seemed… impersonal. And granted he'd only known Lena for a couple of months, but he felt like they were friends. She seemed to worry for him when he went out on potentially dangerous calls. She let him know when she was going into work or had appointments. They had dinner nearly every night. Breakfast in the morning. She'd even taken on communicating with his faux-deceased mother in order to protect them both. He felt protective of her, responsible for her.

He tried to shake off his feeling and go to bed. But he was restless for the rest of the night. The next day, he and Hank went back to the hospital to talk to Dana's doctor. Who had told them that Dana had been drugged with something called valerian root. But it wasn't included on her list of medications.

Now was the time to talk to Dana herself.

Nick was surprised when they walked in and saw Lena talking to Dana.

"Lena?"

Nick's roommate looked up, startled. "Nick, Hank, hi."

Hank was confused too. "What are you doing here?"

Dana looked to Lena as well, "You know each other?"

Lena nodded to the mother-to-be first and explained, "Yeah, they're both friends of mine." She then directed her attention to the men. "I'm Dana's midwife. Sam called me and told me what happened last night, so I'm here to check in with her."

Nick was struck again with an impersonal feeling between her and all of them.

Lena turned back to Dana. "These are Detective Burkhardt and Detective Griffin. I assume they're here to ask you some questions. Do you feel up to it?"

She nodded limply, turning to the detectives.

Nick asked first, "How are you feeling?"

Dana smiled, "A little weak, but better."

Then he asked, "Do you remember anything about the attack?"

Dana frowned. Like she was afraid of the memories. "I remember reading and then falling asleep and then waking up because of this pain. It hurt more than anything I've ever felt. I can't remember anything else. It was like a dream."

"Did you see anything outside your window?" Hank asked.

"I-I can't remember," Dana sighed.

"Did you hear anything... A ticking sound?" Nick asked gently.

"Your neighbor Liz says she remembers a ticking sound," Hank added.

Dana slowly shook her head after some thought. "Not really."

Nick and Hank shared a look before Nick informed her, "Dana, the doctors found a sedative in your system called valerian root."

"Root? As in a kind of plant?" Wu appeared in the doorway. "I'm sorry. I just got here. Keep going."

"I've heard of valerian root," Lena chimed in, frowning in thought. "Midwives used to use it in the fifteenth century to dull the pain of childbirth for their patients. It's obviously not used anymore."

Nick nodded and turned to Dana, "Did you take any or eat anything that contained valerian?"

Dana shared a look with Lena and answered, "I have a strict list of vitamins and meds to take, and sedatives are not on it."

"That's all we need for now," Nick told her. "Get some rest."

After they left, Lena went back to her patient. "Okay, Dana, we have your next checkup rescheduled three days from now. Your doctor told me you'll be discharged in a few hours. I assume Sam is picking you up?"

Dana nodded. "Yeah, he will."

"That's good," Lena said, patting her hand. "I'm going to go update your file with your doctor. Remember to call me if you feel any pain or something before our appointment."

"I will, thank you," Dana thanked her softly, resting her eyes as Lena let herself out.

Once Lena was out of the hospital, she was at a loss of where to go. She didn't want to go to the house. What if Nick was there and asked her what was wrong? She couldn't go to the shop. Nick could be there too. Or Rosalee could sense something was up and ask her about it. She just didn't want to be around people. So, she drove herself to a café.

Sitting down outside with a chamomile tea and biscotti wasn't the cure-all she hoped it would be. Even the chilly February breeze washing over her sweater-clad shoulders couldn't cool the rising heat in her head. Just down the outdoor seating area, a lovely little family was sitting down. A mother and father with two little kids sharing a sundae while the parents warmly smiled with their arms around each other as they watched their children enjoy their dessert.

It tore her apart to watch. Especially today of all days. But she couldn't stop staring, tears building in her eyes. She could feel something washing over her. If she had been outside herself looking, she'd see something shifting under her skin and her eyes starting to glow. Her head felt like it was on fire, the heat washing down her whole body.

It overwhelmed her and left her panting for breath. She panicked, tossing money on her table and running to her car. Hopefully, Nick wouldn't be at the house.

* * *

"Here it is, valerian root," Rosalee spoke and she climbed down the ladder at her shop with a jar of some kind of plant. "It's a natural sedative used in teas and oils, but it can be really dangerous in large doses. Some call it nature's valium."

"So, whoever attacked Dana wanted to make sure she was out cold," Hank surmised.

"Maybe valerian was used instead of something with harsher chemicals that could potentially harm a fetus," Rosalee suggested.

"Lena did mention that midwives use to use it to ease the pain of birth," Nick commented.

"Why pump out the amniotic fluid but keep the fetus intact?" Hank asked.

Rosalee pursed her lips before suggesting, "There are ancient rituals where it's believed the health and youth of a baby can be absorbed. Your case could have something to do with that."

"Yeah, I have an Aunt and Uncle that used to eat their newborns' placentas, you know, fry 'em up with a little butter and honey," Monroe said, shivering. "But I'm sorry. This is going too far."

"Okay, maybe if we cross-reference attacks on pregnant women with valerian root, we can find something in the trailer," Nick thought out loud.

"Need help?" Rosalee offered.

"Wouldn't hurt."

"Anybody else got the heebie-jeebies?" Monroe asked.

The four of them made their way to the trailer and started pouring over books. Monroe and Rosalee took the couch with a couple large tomes while Nick was at the table with Hank across. Nick sighed as he flipped through his book and took a break to ask Rosalee, "Hey, Rosalee… have you heard from Lena today?"

Rosalee answered absently, "No, why?"

"I don't think it's important," Nick said reluctantly. "She just seemed off today. She was gone when I got the call about Dana's attack, no note or anything. She was in her room when I got back. Didn't see her this morning until we went to talk to Dana, and she was there. She's their midwife. And she was just… I don't know, distant, while we were there."

"Maybe she was just being professional," Hank suggested. "It being her work and all."

"Things are probably starting to speed up for her, career wise," Rosalee added. "I'm sure you don't have to worry. You'll have time to talk to her later."

Nick accepted their words and moved onto his work. Eventually, he found something. ""I arrive in the Philippines at Manila, May of 1904, after a long arduous voyage from...""

"Do we have to start at the beginning?" Hank interceded.

Monroe added, "Yeah, pick it up right before the "and then I cut off his head" part."

"All right," Nick said, reading softly to himself as he tried to find the relevant information. "Okay, okay. "After the midwife was able to quell the hemorrhaging, the young woman gained consciousness. She told me it was an Aswang that had caused the tragedy. She had been sold as a bride, to be impregnated so that her firstborn may be consumed as a means for a prolonged, healthy life. This is what we're looking for. Aswangs use their long tongues to inject chewed up valerian root to sedate their victims as they attack.""

"That explains why Dana can't remember much," Hank said.

""These attacks are often incorrectly diagnosed as miscarriages, and for the process to work, the fetus must be a blood relative to the Aswang.''" Nick read.

Hank seemed a little freaked out about that, "That's some family obligations."

"Wait, what does that say?" Rosalee asked, pointing to a gruesome picture of the creature.

""I've also learned that Aswang have an alternate name... tik-tiks, due to the ticking sound they make with their tongue."" Nick read aloud.

"The neighbor said she heard a ticking sound coming from Dana's house," Hank remembered. "Now that we know what we're dealing with, what do we tell Wu?"

Monroe instantly shook his head, "Oh, no, no. I don't think an Aswang is a very good gateway wesen for a Kehrseite."

"I'm not sure there is a good gateway," Hank said.

"It's more of a hellgate," Rosalee said softly.

"We can't risk involving him in something that he doesn't understand," Nick agreed.

"But we can't let him think he's going crazy," Hank protested. He remembered his introduction to this world, seeing Monroe in his woged form. "I know that feeling too well. And I can't just stand by and..."

"I don't think we should give him any premature information," Nick interrupted.

"Yes, premature information can be very messy," Monroe frowned.

"Hearing the truth is not the problem," Hank insisted. "It's seeing and not being able to explain what it is that pushes you over the edge."

"You were confronted with it," Rosalee reassured him. "You had no choice."

"Hank, I'm sorry," Monroe said. "I kind of agree with 'em. I mean, this is life-changing information we're talking about."

"Wu needs to know what he's going up against. You leave him unprepared, anything could happen," Hank answered.

"Look, I don't want to drag him into this, not unless we absolutely have to," Nick decided.

Hank sighed. He could tell he was out voted. "If you all think that's the way it should be... Okay. Let's go see if Dana and Sam have any blood relatives in town."

* * *

Nick and Hank ended up getting to Sam and Dana's house in time to see Wu shooting the Aswang down as it attacked Dana. Nick watched as the wesen morphed into a little old lady – Sam's mother. She was dead. They had to comfort Wu over the episode. He was so freaked out, having seen the Aswang and witness it turn into Mrs. Tomas. They had just finished reporting the incident to the Captain late in the night.

When Nick got home, most of the house was dark too. But he saw Lena curled up on the couch. He frowned when he saw an empty six pack on the coffee table and an empty glass of wine. He saw a book next to them.

He approached the living room and saw the book – a photo album – open to a page of photos. He saw Lena, in a beautiful simple white dress, in the arms of an Asian man. She looked so happy, smiling from ear to ear. He had never once seen her smile like that since meeting her.

Nick had a feeling that she wasn't in a good place. He sat next to her on the couch to try and gently shake her awake so he could get her in her bed to sleep more comfortable. She immediately shot up, awake and gasping and crying. Nick grabbed her shoulders, so she didn't fall to the ground.

"Hey, you're okay," Nick assured her. "It's just me. You fell asleep on the couch. Or well, it looks like you drank yourself to sleep."

She scoffed harshly, "Right."

"I can tell something is really wrong," Nick told her. He gestured with his eyes to the album on the coffee table, "Your wedding album?"

She nodded solemnly. She pulled her knees up to hug them to her chest. "I'm just torturing myself. Today is our – well,  _was my_ … wedding anniversary."

"Oh, God, Lena…" Nick sighed. "Why didn't you tell any of us?"

He watched her face crumble as she shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks, "I don't know, I don't know. I just… didn't even want to acknowledge it. I don't want to miss him anymore. It's too painful. And everyone tells me to let him go and move on. Counselors, old coworkers, even his parents… Telling me that he wouldn't want me to close myself off and not live my life."

"You don't have to rush into that," Nick told her. "You can take your time to grieve, but in the mean time you need to let us be here for you. It's okay to miss your husband. But you can't pretend that today isn't what it is, or that your life before Portland didn't happen."

"I know, I know," she sobbed, trying to dig her face into her knees.

But Nick reached to wrap his arms around her and pull her into his side. She cried into his shoulder and he just held her close. He couldn't imagine the pain she was going through, losing her husband so suddenly as she had. Sometimes he still missed Juliette. But she'd left him because she couldn't handle the Grimm and wesen world. And ultimately, he would move on with someone that could. But poor Lena had gotten no warning before her husband just wasn't there anymore.

Once her tears slowed down and she sniffled a little, she pulled away and gave him a mournful smile, "I know I was probably really off with you today. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, I understand," he told her honestly. "I do wish you would have just told me what was wrong. But I understand that you may not trust me enough…"

"It's not that," she said. "It's just… me trying to run away from the pain. It didn't exactly work, as you can see. Checking in with Dana didn't distract me, wandering the city didn't distract me. I ended up at this little café and saw this family with their kids and I… I think I started to woge."

"How could you tell?" Nick asked, concerned.

"It just… seeing those kids just brought all the pain to the front of my mind and I felt like I was going to cry at first. But then it was like a hot flash. Rosalee said it could feel like that. It knocked the wind out of me so I came here and…" she ended her explanation by gesturing to the scene he'd found when he arrived.

"Maybe it was the emotional distress," Nick suggested. "Though I don't understand how seeing kids distressed you…"

Lena winced. "Right before Kevin… died… we had just started trying…"

To have a baby.

"Oh, Lena," Nick sighed lowly. "I'm so sorry."

Lena wiped at her eyes. "Today has been a day, huh? Did you find out what attacked Dana?"

"Yeah, we took care of it," he assured her. "Don't worry about her, she'll be fine. Now, I think we need a good night's sleep."

She weakly chuckled, "It might be better to sleep in a real bed, huh?"

"Yeah," Nick said, helping her up off the couch and walking upstairs with her. At her door, he grabbed her hand to tug her to face him before she went inside. "I'm here. To talk, to cry, even to punch something."

Lena smiled at the offer, "I'll definitely keep that in mind. Thank you, Nick."

Without noticing, Nick had intertwined their fingers together. "You don't have to thank me."


	8. Sacrilege

A little over a week had passed since Dana had been attacked by the Aswang.  Nick had brought Lena up to speed after her night of drinking to drown her sorrows.  Wu had been the one to shoot the Aswang, having seen the monster that then turned into Sam’s mother.  He freaked out and was now in a mental hospital dealing with it.  Hank seemed to be of the opinion that they should tell Wu the truth.  That what he saw was real.  He had had a bad experience being introduced to the wesen world when he saw Monroe woged.  And he thought they shouldn’t let Wu go through that too.  The others were more reluctant.  Lena didn’t know how to feel about.

 

The group of them sat around the table at Nick’s house, with muffins and drinks.

 

“I still think we should tell him,” Hank said.

 

Nick shook his head, “You saw how he was. Even if we wanted to tell him, he is not ready.”

 

“All I know is after I faced my first beast...”

 

Monroe looked affronted, “Whoa, Hank, we're right here.”

 

“Sorry. My first _wesen_ ,” Hank corrected himself.

 

“Not that some wesen aren't more bestial than others. Don't get me wrong,” Monroe allowed.

 

“You saw how messed up I was,” Hank reminded them.  “Put a few bullet holes in the closet, couldn't sleep without my shotgun, but once Nick explained things... and you did too... took some getting used to, but here I am.”

 

“That's because Nick was your partner,” Rosalee pointed out.  “You already trusted him.”

 

“If I hadn’t been forced to believe and accept this stuff because I was part of it, I would have run for the hills,” Lena quietly admitted over her tea.  She could feel their eyes on her.  “I didn’t know Nick or Rosalee or Monroe.  I didn’t trust them.  These were strangers telling me that wesen exist, that I am not one but two, and I didn’t know what that meant.  I still struggled with it a lot after accepting it was true.  And honestly, I still do sometimes.”

 

“But can you imagine figuring out alone when you woge?” Hank asked her warily.  “Wouldn’t you think something is really wrong with you?”

 

“Yes, of course,” Lena answered.  “But I have no choice.  It’s who I am.  I was lucky to find you guys when I did otherwise, I have no idea what would have happened to me when I finally woge for the first time not understanding what’s happening.  But it’s not the same with Wu.  He doesn’t _have_ to know, if it can be avoided.”

 

Rosalee interjected, “Like most people, wesen is not for everybody.”

 

“It's one thing seeing a Fuchsbau or even a Blutbad, but an Aswang? I mean, they scare even us,” Monroe said.  “If that was your introduction to wesen and then you were told you're not imagining things, that could fry your brain. I mean, I know I'm repeating myself here, but it could fry your brain for good.”

 

“I have to agree,” Rosalee nodded.  “I think we should wait and see how Wu responds to treatment. Maybe he'll be okay.”

 

“What if he's not?” Lena asked quietly. 

 

“Then we have to tell him,” Hank said.

* * *

After the haphazard breakfast at Nick’s, the cops went to the station after getting a call about a break-in and murder.  Rosalee and Monroe went to the shop and Lena went to check in on Dana since her attack.  After leaving the couple’s house, Lena felt a wave of dizziness hit her.  Her head felt like it would explode.  Another hotflash?  She needed to see Rosalee.

 

She drove to the shop and let herself in, seeing Rosalee at the counter.  She peaked and saw Monroe in the side room, working on something.

 

Rosalee frowned when she saw her, “Lena, are you okay?  You look a little flushed.”

 

Lena gave her a weak grin.  “Got anything for hotflashes?”

 

Rosalee’s frown had a tint of realization now.  “Hotflashes… how long have you been getting them?”

 

She shrugged, “Since the Aswang, really.  Just a few.”

 

Rosalee went to her shelves and grabbed a few things.  “It may mean that your woge is trying to come out.  It could happen at any time now.”

 

Monroe had heard the conversation and walked into the room then.  “How are you feeling now?”

 

“A little warm, but not as bad as earlier,” Lena told him.

 

Rosalee set to work mixing some herbs together.  “I’ll make you a tea for the hotflashes.  Not the same as Freddy gave you.  It won’t repress the woge.  But it should smooth things over until it comes out naturally.”

 

Lena sighed in relief, rubbing her temples, “Thanks, Rose.”

 

“It’s going to be okay,” Rosalee assured her as the midwife leaned on the other side of the counter.

 

Lena looked between her and Monroe, “I also told Nick about the other weird stuff that’s been happening.”

 

Rosalee gaped.  “You did?”

 

“What weird stuff?” Monroe questioned.

 

“Like that wall with your parents,” Lena told him.  “Other stuff like that had happened before.  I knocked over a jar without touching it, shoved Joe when he attacked Alicia when I wasn’t even near him.  I never said anything because…”

 

“Because the only wesen I can think of that has those kinds of abilities is a hexenbeist,” Rosalee finished for her.

 

Monroe slowly nodded in understanding.  “And given our run ins with Adalind, you were worried about how Nick would take it.  How did he take it?”

 

“He seemed a little hurt that I didn’t trust him enough to tell him,” Lena admitted.  “But he told me it wouldn’t matter if I was.”

 

“It would explain why your mom… you know, left,” Monroe mentioned delicately.  “Hexenbiests aren’t known for their maternal side.”  Seeing Lena grow disheartened at his words, he rushed to add, “But you know, that’s not you.  You’re obviously maternal, I mean you’re a midwife and a good person.  And, you know, if your mom _was_ … you’re only half.  It probably won’t make a difference.”

 

“It doesn’t change anything either way,” Rosalee cut off his ramblings gently.  “You are our friend and we’re here for you.  I’m sure it’s the same with Nick.”

 

Speak of the Grimm and he shall appear.  Nick and Hank chose then to come to the shop with a case file.  They suspected it was wesen.  Someone broke into a University lab with a recently discovered mummy and ended up killing one of the guards.  The weird thing that screamed wesen was that the mummy was shaped just like the Anubis shaped sarcophagus it was entombed within.

 

Monroe studied the pictures of the mummy.  “That is definitely not Kehrseite.”

 

“Is it even possible to mummify a wesen in full woge?” Nick asked.

 

“I guess so,” Monroe said.  “I mean, if the wesen were kept alive in a heightened state of fear or agitation.”

 

“And if the right drugs were used to preserve the woge,” Rosalee added.

 

Lena shivered at the thought, frowning at the photo of the Anubis shaped man wrapped in gauze.

 

“But once it's mummified, it couldn't wake up, right?” Hank checked.

 

“No, when you're dead, you're dead,” Rosalee answered.

 

Nick sighed, “So this is a mummified Anubis.”

 

“It could be. Hence the carving on the sarcophagus,” she said.

 

“Anubis are wesen too?” Lena questioned.

 

Hank nodded to her.  “I was just going to ask that.”

 

Rosalee explained, “Lots of Egyptian gods were wesen. That's why we're depicted as animal-like creatures on the tomb walls.”

 

“Way back when, wesen were actually, well, worshiped. Tefnut, Ammit, Bast, Khepri,” Monroe rambled.  “Total rock stars. Literally.”

 

Nick focused on the case.  “The campus cop said he was attacked by something that looked like an Anubis, so they're still around.”

 

Monroe nodded, “Well, yeah, they're not extinct, if that's what you're thinking, but it wasn't this dude. He'd be dead.”

 

Hank frowned in thought, “So then there had to be another Anubis in the room.”

 

“Yeah, well, this one is a cold-blooded killer with a political message,” Nick said as he pulled out photos of red hieroglyphs painted on a wall.

 

“Sorry, I'm not really up on my hieroglyphs. You, uh... you know what this says?” Monroe asked.

 

“"I protect the dead."”

 

Monroe and Rosalee’s faces dropped as they shared a look.

 

“Beati paoli,” Rosalee whispered.

 

Monroe nodded with her, “Beati paoli, right. But you really think nowadays—around here?”

 

“Somebody wanna tell us what this Beati Paoli is?” Hank asked.

 

Rosalee turned serious as she explained, “It's a sicilian vendetta society made up of different wesen, dedicated to the protection of wesen culture.”

 

“Yeah, it was created in the 17th century,” Monroe told them.  “They go after, like, museums, archeological digs, antique auction houses. They'll even go after private wesen collectors if they're trafficking in stolen wesen antiquities.”

 

“Growing up, every angry young wesen wanted to join their cause,” Rosalee’s eyes darkened.

 

“And I'm not saying I condone their methods, but if this mummy really is wesen, I have to agree, displaying it woged is totally grotesque,” Monroe added.

 

Rosalee seemed to be getting heated.  “It's immoral. It's a sacrilege. This mummy is not only a part of our heritage. It's our ancestor.”

 

“Sorry, I just... we feel kind of passionate about this,” Monroe sighed.

 

“We get that,” Lena said, more so on her own part.  “I mean, I can’t imagine I would be okay with someone digging up my father in a thousand years just to look at his remains.”

 

Defusing the tension, Nick said, “Well, I guess it's time we hit the trailer. You guys wanna come?”

 

“Oh, yeah,” Monroe started to say.

 

But Rosalie stopped him from following, “Love to, but our wedding planner's coming, so this tall guy is stuck with me. Sorry.”

 

“No—have fun!” Lena smiled broadly at the reminder of their wedding preparations.  “Let me know if there’s anything I can help with.”

 

“We will, thanks,” Rosalee smiled and hugged her friend before she followed the cops out. 

* * *

Lena, Nick, and Hank spent a little more than an hour in the trailer before Lena finally found something.  “I think this is it,” she said before she read the entry.  “"Cairo, June 11, year of our lord, 1928. Five days ago, I received an urgent request from Lord Herbert of the Royal Geographic Society. Two of their Egyptians had been brutally murdered at a dig near Karnak. From witness statements, I suspected the murderer was wesen. As luck would have it, I had brought my bell and howell eyemo, which enabled me to film some of my investigation."”  Lena paused and looked at Nick, “Do you have that film?”

 

“I might,” he said, gesturing behind him.  “There are a lot of old films in that cabinet down there.”

 

“Worth a look,” Hank said, opening the cabinet and pulled out a pile of metal tins.  “Hmm. "Cult of Kali. Tunguska."”

 

“Look for something Egyptian,” Nick said.

 

Hank read a few more labels and then landed on one and showed them the label.  A drawing of an Anubis.  “How about a hieroglyph?”

 

Nick quickly set up the projector while Hank pulled the screen down and Lena shut off the lights.  The projector was a manual crank, so Nick stood next to it and turned the crank around as the old black and white film played on the screen.  The camera was taking in a sarcophagus a man had just opened.

 

“Same type of sarcophagus that's in the university,” Nick said.

 

Hank gave his partner a grin, “He looks a little like you, Nick.”

 

They watched as the man with a torch approached another man chained to the stone wall, cut up and thrilling in his bounds.  The first man stabbed at him with the torch, and the captive thrashed and started morphing in an Anubis creature, snarling dog-like snout and pointed ears going straight up.

 

“Why's he doing that?” Hank asked.

 

“He just woged,” Nick said.

 

“You can see that?” Hank asked.

 

“Yeah. Can't you?” Nick frowned.  It was on film.

 

“No,” Hank shook his head.

 

“I can,” Lena whispered.  “He looks so angry.”

 

“Is there anything more in the book?” Nick asked as the film ended.

 

“Yeah, there's more,” Lena said, using a flashlight to read the rest.  “"After some coercion, the Anubis confirmed he was a member of the Beati Paoli." That's what Monroe and Rosalee were just talking about. "He told me that because Anubis were seen as gods by the Egyptians, pharaohs in the Old Kingdom believed that if they were buried with a mummified Anubis, they were assured of becoming gods themselves. They tortured to death thousands of slaves in search of Anubis, but only a few were ever successfully mummified in full woge."”  Lena frowned deeply, “I… that’s just awful.”

 

“No wonder they're pissed about displaying their ancestors,” Hank thought out loud.

 

“"The Anubis further confessed that it was his intention to steal the mummy and give it a ceremonial burial. After assuring him I would do that…” Lena paused before deadpanning the end of the inscription, “I dispatched him to his ancestors."”

 

Nick sighed, “Well, at least we now know Karl Herman wasn't there to redecorate the walls... he was there to steal the mummy.”

 

“Well, if he tried once, he'll try again,” Hank said.

 

“And kill someone else,” Lena frowned.

 

“We better warn Professor Gates.” 

* * *

Lena occupied herself with going to the grocery store.  With the tea Rosalee had made her, she was ready to be rid of these hotflashes.  But she also knew the house needed real food since they’d been forced to buy donuts for breakfast.  She was just re-checking her list to make sure she had everything when Nick called.

 

“Where are you?”

 

She frowned at the abrasive question.  “At the store.  Why – did you need something?”

 

“No, look, you need to go to the house, lock all the doors and stay inside,” he said quickly.

 

Fear struck her at his words.  “Nick, what’s going on?”

 

“A man from the wesen council named Alexander showed up at Monroe and Rosalee’s,” he explained.  “He wants to talk to me about something.  He’s normally an assassin for the wesen council and we don’t know how they’ll react to you.  So, we don’t want him to meet you.”

 

“Do you think he’d hurt me?” she asked quietly, knowing other shoppers were around.

 

“I’m not risking it,” he told her.  “Just, please, get home and call me when you get there.”

 

“Okay, I’m leaving now.”

 

Lena quickly checked out and drove back to Nick’s house.  She made sure all the doors and windows were shut and locked, along with drawing the curtains and blinds.  She busied herself with putting the groceries away, constantly checking the door to make sure it was really locked.  She had texted Nick to let him know that she got to the house.  He had quickly told her about his conversation with Alexander and that she should be safe.  But to stay home until he or Monroe and Rosalee came over.

 

She had made something to eat when her growling stomach demanded it.  She washed it down with Rosalee’s tea and set aside leftovers for Nick.  She was growing more worried the more time dragged on.  She wondered if it was just because this was wesen or if she’d always feel this way being friends with a cop.  Living with a cop.

 

She was trying to distract herself with a book when her phone finally rang, and it was Nick.  “Are you okay?  What happened?”

 

“Everything is fine, over with,” he told her.  “We’re fine, Karl’s in custody, Gates is fine if a little confused and stressed.  I’ll explain everything when I get home.  I just have to wrap things up at the station.”

 

Lena sighed in relief, “Okay…” 

* * *

“So, the wesen council through this guy Alexander, asked a Grimm to kill a wesen.  But all along he just wanted you preoccupied with getting Karl so he could get the mummy out.  And you’re going to hold a Viking funeral for the mummy in the morning?”

 

“Yeah, pretty much,” Nick said. 

 

“I can’t lie and say I don’t understand where they were coming from.  For the mummy part, not the contracting an assassination part.  I sort of wish I could come,” Lena admitted.  “But who knows what questions my presence will put in this guy’s head.”

 

“We won’t let him or anyone else find out about you,” Nick swore.

 

“I know,” she responded.  “Hey, at least Wu is getting to come home tomorrow too.  You and Hank are picking him up, right?”

 

“Right,” Nick seemed relieved.  “Seems like he’s accepted that what he saw wasn’t real.”

 

“Hopefully, it stays that way,” Lena said.


	9. Woge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While dealing with the consequences of a wesen carnival show, Lena finally woges for the first time.

Lena felt at ease, at home, for one of the first times since moving to Portland, at dinner with Monroe and Rosalee, and Nick, at the engaged couples’ house talking about wedding plans.

“We want to find someplace quiet and secluded,” Rosalee was saying with a small smile.

“Where, in the woods?” Lena asked.

Rosalee blushed and nodded.  “It's sort of a tradition.”

“On both sides,” Monroe added.

“My parents were married in the cascades.”

“The mountains?” Lena asked in wonder.

“Yeah, from what I hear, it wasn't too bad of a hike,” she said.

“My parents got married next to a waterfall,” Monroe said as he refilled their glasses of wine.  “My dad likes to joke he couldn't hear the vows.”

“Not all waterfalls are too loud,” Lena commented, remembering her own ceremony.

Rosalee smiled at her friend, “Yeah, yours looked really beautiful.  Thank you for sharing your album with me.”

Lena waved her off, “It was actually really nice to be able to remember the good times with someone.  I think it helped me more than it helped you get wedding ideas for yourself.”

Rosalee smiled and sipped her wine.  “Anyway, we're thinking somewhere up on mount hood.”

“Don't worry, somewhere we can drive,” Monroe assured them.

“That sounds like it’ll be really beautiful and so romantic,” Lena gushed.  “And don’t forget to come to us if you need any help at all.”

Monroe and Rosalee shared a look at her words.  Monroe cleared his throat and said, “Well, that actually kind of brings us to the ulterior motive for tonight.”  He turned to Nick, putting his arm around Rosalee and saying, “I want to thank you for changing my life, because if it hadn't been for you, I never would have met Rosalee, and for that, I am truly grateful.”

“Me too,” Rosalee said, smiling softly.

“So...” Monroe built up into his serious question.  “Will you pay for the wedding?”  The table laughed at him, Rosalee joking chastising her fiancé.  He chuckled and said, “Sorry, just... I was kidding. Um, but seriously, I want you to be my best man. No pressure, you don't have to answer right away.”

Nick was floored, letting out a breathy laugh as he asked, “Really, for sure?”

Monroe nodded, certain.  “Well, dude, you brought us together. I mean, you are kind of the responsible party here.”

Nick chuckled again, “Then I'd be honored.”

They had started to lift their glasses to cheers the best man but Rosalee stopped them, “Hold on, we're not done.”  She looked to Lena, “I have to have my sister as the matron of honor, but… I would really love it, if you would stand up with me too.  As my bridesmaid.”

Touched tears welled in Lena’s eyes as she met Rosalee’s eyes, “Are—are you sure?  I mean, I know I’m still new here…”

Rosalee quickly cut her off, gently, “You are family to us.  And not just because of Freddy.  I really want you up there with us.”

Lena swiped a tear that began to fall from her eye, smiling widely.  Nick reached over to squeeze her hand when he saw how emotional she was getting.  Monroe was smiling at her and mouthing, ‘say yes’ from across the table.  She was thankful for the show of support.

“Of course, I will,” she whispered.  “I would love to.”

“To the bride and groom,” Nick cheered.

* * *

The next morning, Lena was packing her work bag to go to a check-up appointment with a woman about ready to pop, already three days past her due date.  She sipped her tea and cleaned up her plate of breakfast when a tired looking Nick wandered into the kitchen.

“Hey, you don’t look like you got any sleep,” she commented, gesturing to the coffee she’d started brewing for him.

He quietly poured himself a cup and sipped it.  “I feel like I didn’t sleep at all.  I had a nightmare about Monroe and Rosalee’s wedding.”

“What?” Lena gaped.  “Are you that nervous about being best man?  How bad could it have been?”

“Well, it wasn’t bad, not at first. It was a beautiful ceremony, until one of the little kids woged and saw me and started screaming, and then the parents woged, and they saw me and attacked, and I had to kill them.”  He sighed.  “Yeah, and it was pretty much downhill from there. Last thing I remember, I beheaded Monroe's grandma...”

“Nick, it was a dream,” she tried to comfort him.  He looked pretty shaken.

“But what if it's not?” he asked her, setting his mug down and leaning against the counter.  “What if this is a premonition? I mean, all of this could really happen. If I'm Monroe's best man, I'm gonna be standing right up there. People are gonna be looking right at me. I don't think I can do it. Somebody could die.”

“You’re right that’s all a possibility,” she told him diplomatically.  “But I don’t think any of us can see the future, Nick.  I think you have very legitimate concerns and your dream was a result of them.”

Nick absently crossed his arms.  “What should I do?”

“Talk to Monroe,” Lena suggested.  “Tell him what you’re worried about and see what he thinks.  I doubt it didn’t occur to him before he asked you.  But, if neither of you can come up with a solution, then you may have to tell him that as much as you want to be his best man, you can’t take the risk.”

Nick sighed and took her words in stride.  “Yeah, I think you’re right.  Thank you.”

Lena shrugged as she washed her mug.  “You’ve been a sounding board for me plenty of times.”

“What do you have today?” he asked, noticing her bag on the table.

“A mother at the end of her trimester,” Lena said wryly.  “We’re going to talk about natural ways to induce labor if she gets too overdue.  But it’s only been a few days.  She’s just frustrated.”

“I think any pregnant woman would be,” Nick chuckled.

“Oh, yeah,” Lena agreed, going to grab her bag.  “I’m gonna stop by the shop afterwards to get more of that tea Rosalee gave me for my hotflashes too.”

“Are those happening more often?” Nick asked, concerned.

“On and off,” she admitted.  “Never more than once a day, but I would like to just avoid having them when I’m with a patient.”

“I wish I could do something,” Nick admitted.  He didn’t like not being able to help her with this part of being wesen.  Only another wesen could.

“You do enough,” Lena assured him.  “I’ll see you later.”

“Have fun at work,” Nick called after her as she left.

After fielding question after question from her patient – no, don’t use castor oil just yet, yes, sex and walking may work, yes, if you don’t go into labor within the next two weeks, we’ll try acupuncture – Lena finally made her way to the spice shop.

“If this woman doesn’t give birth soon, she’s going to drive me crazy,” Lena idly complained to Rosalee as she made her more tea.  She was already getting more questions via text from said patient she had just left.  “I may outsource some herbal remedies I’ve studied here.”

“We have plenty at the shop,” Rosalee said.  “How are the hotflashes?”

“Not often,” Lena said honestly.  “More so it feels like a tension headache and then a hotflash.”

“Does this tea help?” Rosalee asked.

“Yeah,” Lena nodded.  “For the most part.  Sometimes I also take tyllenol.  I also sometimes feel a little itchy, like on my head.  Did you ever feel like that?”

Rosalee nodded, remembering her first woge.  “Yeah, like the wesen is scratching to get out.  I think you’re getting closer.”

“Hopefully we’ll be able to tell what the other half is once and for all,” Lena mused.

Monroe made his way into the store then, “Hey Lena!”

“Hey, Monroe,” Lena greeted back.  “How’s the world of clock repairing?”

“Just got a new one from Liechtenstein,” he said, jolly.  “Really excited to dig into that one.  How’s… midwifery?”

“Today, it’s frustrating,” she sighed.  “But it’s still better than being on the ambulance.”

“I hear ya,” Monroe nodded.  “Even if I can’t relate.”

Lena chuckled, “Both are stressful.  I just have better hours and more freedom now.”

“More freedom sounds good,” he cheered.

The bell jingled again as Nick and Hank walked in.

“Nick, Hank,” Rosalee greeted.  “Something tells me you’re not here for herbal remedies.”

Nick shook his head, “Nope.  We have a case that I’m sure will concern you all.”

They all convened in the work room as Nick and Hank brought the rest of them up to speed.  Two girls had been killed in their home after attending a carnival where wesen woged in front of people.  
  
“A wesen carnival? Wow,” Monroe marveled.

“In Sellwood park. Ever been to one?” Nick asked.

“No,” Monroe answered.  “It's not something the community is particularly proud of, but they still exist.”

“They aren't as common as they used to be, but it goes all the way back to Rome, from Circus Maximus to P.T. Barnum,” Rosalee said, frowning at the practice.  “Long history of wesen exploitation. Forcing wesen from all over the world to woge for the cheap thrill of a paying audience.”

“Which is offensive on so many levels,” Monroe added.

“Well, the council doesn't have a problem with that?” Nick asked.

“The performers present it as one big magic trick, so it technically doesn't go against the code of Swabia,” Rosalee explained, “but in situations like this, it's recommended that local wesen perform a sort of intervention.”

“Intervention for what?” Lena asked.

“The real danger isn't the exploitation of wesen. It's the Umkippen,” Rosalee said.

Hank was baffled by the words wesen had for things.  “Oom-what?”

“Umkippen,” Monroe repeated.  “Essentially...” he sighed, “if we force ourselves to woge over and over again, the wesen side can, like, take over. Leaving us at the mercy of our primal urges, which is a little problematic for civilized society.”

“If someone in this show is suffering from the Umkippen, they are a ticking time bomb,” Rosalee warned.

“And they could've killed the two victims,” Nick guessed.

“Absolutely.”

“Why do you think it was one of these performers?” Monroe asked.

“They got pretty tight-lipped when we started asking,” Hank said.

“The Blutbad seemed a little more worked up than the others,” Nick added.  “Now, if someone did have this Umkippen, would you be able tell?”

“Eventually, yeah,” Monroe said.  “Look, when there's not a shred of humanity left, it's pretty obvious. And in the meantime, it's a pretty intense struggle.”

Nick grimaced.  “Could there be a pattern of violent behavior?”

“Yes,” Rosalee nodded.

“We gotta get to the precinct and do some background checks,” Nick said, sharing a look with Hank.

“Thank you.”

“You got it,” Monroe said as they left.

“I’m going to get back to the house too and have some of this amazing tea,” Lena said.  “Call me if anything comes up with this stuff, would you?”

“Of course,” Rosalee agreed, walking her out.  When she returned, she gave her fiancé a look, “We should check that place out.”

“What?” Monroe frowned.  “No, I... why? I hate carnivals, they give me the creeps.”

“But we would be able to tell if someone is suffering from the Umkippen. If they are, they need our help,” she insisted.

“Even if they've killed somebody?”

She faltered.  “Then we tell Nick.”

“Well, okay, why don't we just bring Nick with us, at least?” he suggested.

She gave him a look.  “Uh, because he's a Grimm. It would only make things worse.”

Monroe sighed.  “Fine.”

* * *

“What?” Lena shouted into her phone after answering Monroe’s call.  “She landed herself in the show?  I’m coming there.”

“You don’t have to do that, it could get hairy,” Monroe told her.

“I don’t care,” she insisted.  “I can’t just sit on the sidelines while she’s in danger.  I’ll be there soon.  Call Nick.”

“I already did, they’re almost here, but the show’s about to start like right now, you’re not gonna make it in time.”

Lena could feel panic starting to well in her.  She needed to be there for her friends.  To help them.  They were danger.  But Monroe was right, she wouldn’t have time.  She couldn’t see that her eyes were glowing again, but a gust of wind began to whir around her, coming from nowhere.  No window was open.  It swirled around her like a twister and suddenly, she wasn’t in the house anymore, but standing in front of Monroe outside the carnival tent.

Monroe gaped at her, having never seen anything like a woman appeared in a tornado before.  “What…”

“I don’t know,” Lena squeaked.  “But right now, Rosalee needs us, let’s go.”

Monroe led her into the tent, and they took seats just as the show was starting.

"What you're about to see will live in your fear for years, for this is no nightmare, and truth truly is stranger than fiction.”

Lena grimaced at the look of the man running the show.  He looked like the cardinal villain.  Bald, goatee, dark eyes and face and dressed in a steampunk lion tamer outfit.  She wouldn’t be surprised if he turned out to be a lion wesen.

“Oh, my God,” Monroe whispered as they saw Rosalee standing on stage dressed up in some aqua tutu outfit, looking nervous.  There were two other wesen standing with her, and a large cage covered in black fabric at the right.

“Behold Damien, the last dragon of God's green earth, whose ferocious nature proves that we are lucky they did not devour us all,” the boss, Hedig, said, turning to crack his whip at the man standing next to the cage.

Lena’s eyes widened as he woged in a dragon-like creature with horns and green scaly skin and let out a burst of fire from his gullet, awing the audience that just clapped at the trick.

“Witness Ivan, vile Ivan, who crushes skulls and breaks bones with his bare hands,” Hedig said, cracking his whip at the man in the middle.

The large hulk of a man woged into this ogre like creature that let out a big growl and picked up two – hopefully fake – skulls from the stand next to him and smashed them together before turning back.  That earned another round of applause.

“The beautiful Rosalee, who proves that beauty is but skin deep and that a beast resides within us all,” Hedig gestured to Rosalee, now in the spotlight, and cracked his whip at her.

“She’s not really going to…” Lena trailed off as Rosalee hesitated.

“Show us. Rosalee,” Hedig repeated.

She was just about to turn her head and woge when a loud growl erupted from the rumbling covered cage.

“Max, this is not your cue,” they could hear Hedig hiss.  But it made no difference as Max, the blutbad, fully woged and angry, scratched the cover away from his cage and growled at the audience behind his bars.  “But every so often, something appears that is so vicious, so terrible, it cannot be tamed. For this beast... this beast...”

Max broke out of his cage, crouching onto the ground with a growl.  The crowd gasped and started to scream, not knowing if this was part of the show.

“Back! Get back!” Hedig shouted at Max.  Max just snarled.  Hedig pulled out a gun – Nick had told them it was filled with blanks – and made a show of shooting Max.  But it had no effect.

People started to panic and flee the tent.  Monroe pulled Lena up to her feet with him.  “I don't think that's part of the show.”

“Max, stop!” Hedig shouted again.

They could hear a woman – the one Rosalee replaced – crying from the back, “Max! Oh, my God, no!”

“Max, stop!”

Max zeroed in on Rosalee, the object of his anger, and charged for her.  Lena watched as Monroe quickly woged and tackled Max to the ground.

“Monroe!” Rosalee cried.

Monroe and Max started swiping at each other, growling viciously.

Lena was about to intervene when Nick and Hank ran into the tent.

“Move!”

“Nick!” Lena cried.

Hedig had been ready to flee, but upon the excitement woged – confirming Lena’s suspicions, he was a lowen.  He saw Nick and roared, “Grimm!”

Lena tried to stop him from getting away as he went to run.  But he swiped at her arm with a clawed hand and nicked her shoulder, knocking her to the ground.

“You go!  I got her!” she heard Hank shout.  Probably telling Nick to go after Hedig.  “Lena, are you all right?”

She barely heard Hank as he crouched over her to check her injury.  She felt hot all over, and this building pressure in her head that threatened to pop.  Everything in her felt on edge, like something animal was scratching to get out of the surface.

Meanwhile, Monroe was wailing on Max on the ground until Rosalee came over to pull him back.  “Monroe, stop! Now, stop! Stop, he's sick.”  Monroe backed off, woging back to human.

Rosalee grasped his shoulder, “We have to help him.”

Max violently woged back into himself and gasped when he saw the tent, “Oh, my God. What happened? What did I do?”

“It's okay. You're gonna be okay,” Rosalee assured him.

“Um, Monroe, Rosalee!” Hank called their attention.  They twisted around to see Hank bent over a crouching and panting Lena.  “I think something’s happening to Lena.  Is she…?”

Monroe and Rosalee shared a look, both thinking the same thing.  “Stay with him,” Rosalee told her fiancé before rushing to Lena’s side.

Lena was heaving, like she wanted to get sick.  Her skin was flush and sweaty, growing paler.  Rosalee thought she saw claws forming in her fingers as she dug them into the ground.

“Hank, stay back,” Rosalee ushered the cop away.  “Lena… just breathe.  It’s going to be okay.  Don’t fight it.”

Lena whined as the pressure built up, she could barely hear Rosalee’s words.  She was trying to breathe but it was just so hard.  She felt a growl build in her chest and then whatever was itching under her skin stopped as it broke through.

Rosalee stared at the peculiar sight in front of her.  Lena’s eyes were glowing amber as always, and her ears grew out and pointed like a fuchsbau.  But she didn’t have fur.  There was the color of white and brown fur just under her skin, but it didn’t come out.  Her skin did turn a deadly looking shade of pale – almost translucent.  But her teeth looked barely sharpened.  All in all, she barely looked different from before.  But from the slight growling sounds she was making; they both knew this was her full woge.

“Rose…” Lena whimpered, her head in sharp pain.  “It hurts…”

“Just take deep breaths,” Rosalee coached her soothingly.  “Let me find something to show you what you look like.  That helps.”

“Here,” Hank offered up his phone, pulling up the camera. 

Rosalee quietly took and urged Lena to look up so she could take a picture and show her.  Lena frowned at the photo Rosalee was showing her.  It didn’t look like a fuchsbau was supposed to look like.  But she also saw no signs of white hair or rotting corpse-like features.  Did this mean she wasn’t half-hexenbiest after all?

“I still can’t tell what your mother must have been,” Rosalee echoed her thoughts.  “But she wasn’t a hexenbeist.”

“You thought…” Hank muttered.  But he let it slide.

“Now breathe,” Rosalee whispered to her.  “It helps to imagine yourself how you want to look, feel it happening, keep calm.”

Lena stared at the photo of what she currently looked like and tried to imagine those features morphing back into her own.  She felt a slight itching and burning in her face, but it gradually lessened until her face just felt that tingling feeling like a limb falling asleep. 

By Rosalee’s smile, she knew she had woged back.  “How do you feel?”

“Tired,” Lena sighed.

“Come on,” Hank said, helping her up off the floor.  “Let’s find Nick and get out of here.”  His hand gingerly checked the scratches on her arm, blood staining the fleece sweater she wore underneath the tears in the fabric.  “Maybe we should get that checked out.”

“I can take care of it at Nick’s house,” Lena assured him.  “They’re not deep enough for stitches, I’ll just have to clean them.”

“Okay.”

Rosalee and Monroe took care of Max as Hank took Lena to find Nick.  They found him ushering people away from the hall of mirrors.  He saw Hank supporting a rough looking Lena and waved them over.  “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” Lena said quietly, voice feeling hoarse.

“What happened here?” Hank asked.

“Well, we can’t arrest Hedig because somehow he was burned alive in the hall of mirrors,” Nick said, leaving little interpretation for what they knew had to have happened.

“That’s one way to close a case,” Hank breathed.

Nick took in Lena again and checked the scratches on her shoulder, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’ll clean them when I get back, it’s not an emergency,” Lena said.

“You shouldn’t have gotten in front of Hedig,” Nick lightly chastised her.  “He could have done a lot worse.”

“I wasn’t thinking, I’m sorry,” she murmured.

“It doesn’t matter now as long as you’re okay,” Nick said, keeping hold on her arm.

“Nick, she woged,” Hank told his partner.

Nick’s eyes widened, “Fully?  Did you see?”

“More than that,” Hank said.  Lena blushed as he pulled out his phone to show Nick the picture Rosalee had taken.

Nick peered at it, “I sort of see the fuchsbau, but I can’t tell if there are any hexenbeist features.”

“Rosalee said there wasn’t,” Lena said.  “So, we have no idea what my mom was.”

Nick could tell that her eyes were drooping a bit.  “Woging really took it out of you, huh?”

Lena sighed and nodded.

“Why don’t I handle things here and you go on and get her home?” Hank suggested.  He looked down to Lena, “Where’d you park your car?”

Lena’s eyes widened as she just remembered how she’d gotten to the carnival in the first place.  “I didn’t drive here.”

“What?” Hank asked.  “How’d you get here?”

Lena shook her head, “I don’t know.  Monroe called me after he called you and I was adamant in coming to help but he said the show was already starting and I just started to panic.  I got scared for Rosalee and all of the sudden this wind came out of nowhere and then I was just in front of Monroe.  I don’t know what it looked like to him, but we didn’t have time to think about it with everything going on.”

“That’s probably your biggest clue to whatever your mom was,” Hank said.

“Yeah, we’ll look into it,” Nick promised.

“I’ll just hitch a ride back with one of the uniforms,” Hank suggested.  “You get her home and make sure she takes care of that wound.”

“ _She_ is still here,” Lena grumbled half-heartedly.

“Let’s get home,” Nick said, gently putting his arm around her shoulders and guiding her to where Hank had parked in front of the entrance.

Lena nodded off on the car ride home, and Nick practically had to carry her to her bed.  He even cleaned her shoulder himself before pulling the blanket over her.

“Thank you…” she whispered, eyes drooling closed.

Before he could think about it, Nick leaned down to lay a kiss on her cheek with a whispered, “Goodnight,” and went to his own room.


	10. Baby Jane Connor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick and Lena are about to transition into a new and different kind of relationship. But Nick's mom interrupts when she brings Adalind and her very powerful baby to Portland.

"So, you're going to talk to Monroe about being best man?" Lena asked Nick over her tea before they both left for work that day.

"Unless I can think of a solution today," Nick sighed. "There's no getting around it."

"It'll be okay," Lena assured him. "I mean, I'm sure they'll be upset at the situation, but they'll understand the risk too. Or maybe they'll know a solution."

"Here's hoping," Nick said.

By the end of the day, Nick – or Hank and Lena – couldn't figure out a way around the obvious risk Nick being best man posed. So, Nick had to leave the station with a heavy heart to tell Monroe he just couldn't do it.

Monroe had answered the door with an easy smile. But Nick wasn't smiling. "We need to talk."

Monroe sighed, "Who's dead?"

"Nobody. At least not yet," he said wryly as he entered the house. "Look, I got a problem."

"Rosalee, it's Nick. He's got a problem," Monroe called as he shut the door.

"Sorry to interrupt, Rosalee, but this is kind of important," Nick said apologetically as they all stood in the living room.

"Hey, Nick, what's wrong? What kind of case is it?" Rosalee asked.

"It's not a case," Nick sagged. How was he going to do this?

"Really?" Rosalee frowned. Neither of them knew what to expect.

"It's your wedding," Nick sighed.

"What?" Monroe frowned.

"I can't be your best man."

Both Monroe and Rosalee heaved mournful sighs. "What?"

"I am honored that you asked me," Nick insisted, "but it's just too dangerous. Both of your families are gonna be there and, I assume, wesen friends of yours. Now, what if one of them woged, saw that I'm a Grimm? I mean, you saw how your parents reacted."

Rosalee and Monroe both seemed to understand what he meant now.

"I don't want to hurt anybody, and I don't want anybody to get hurt because of me," Nick told them.

Rosalee frowned, "Our day would be ruined if you weren't there. Monroe and I would never have met without you."

"And there's nothing I would want more than to be there, but I just don't know how to make that work," Nick lamented.

There was mournful silence for a moment before Monroe lifted his head and said, "Sunglasses."

Rosalee gasped excitedly, "Yes!"

"For your eyes," Monroe gestured towards Nick's jacket. "Do you have your sunglasses?"

Nick frowned, a little confused, but said, "Uh, yeah," and pulled them out of his pocket.

"Put 'em on. Let's try it out," Monroe urged him.

Nick slipped on his sunglasses and watched as Monroe and Rosalee ducked their heads down to peer at his eyes and woged in front of him. Monroe's voice was beastly deep as he asked, "You see anything?"

"Yeah, you just..." Nick gestured to their woged forms.

"Not you," Monroe cut him off.

"No, nothing," Rosalee answered.

"Me neither."

With big smiles, the couple woged back. Monroe clapped, "There you go! Problem solved. Best man."

"Whoo!" Rosalee cheered.

* * *

"So, sunglasses will actually help?" Lena asked when Nick got back and told her how it went.

"They couldn't see my eyes at all," Nick said.

"Well, let's hope you can keep the glasses on the whole day," Lena said as they played rock 'em sock 'em robots. Lena had seen the game at a vintage store and couldn't resist buying it. It had been one of the first things someone had ever given her. But she had lost her first one moving around so much in the system.

Nick groaned when his robot's head scooted up into the air as she sucker punched it with hers. "How are you so good at this?"

"Thumb dexterity from video games," Lena grinned. "Kevin had an xbox, always arguing that it made him a better surgeon."

"And you bought that?" Nick chuckled, glad that she could talk about her late husband without a touch of sadness in her voice. Just fondness.

"Everyone backed him up," she excused herself. "And it's not like he spent all his time playing them. Eventually, I started participating."

"So, you and Rosalee are seeing if her grandmother's dress fits tomorrow, right?" he asked as they reset their robots for the rematch.

"Yep," Lena smiled. "I'm really excited actually. I love everything about weddings. And we may stop by another shop to look a bridesmaid's dresses. Won't make any decisions until Rose's sister can be around to give some input though."

"Sounds nice," Nick commented. "Now that I'm confirmed best man, I have to actually come up with a speech."

"Oh, you'll be fine," Lena smiled as they began battling again. "I was thinking, tomorrow for dinner, we could make pizza."

"Make pizza?" he echoed.

"Yeah, I briefly worked in a pizzeria before the dishwashing job and got to make everything from scratch. I already have the stuff we need, and I can show you how," she offered.

Seeing that she was excited at the suggestion, Nick found himself eagerly agreeing with a chuckle, "Sounds fun."

* * *

Lena casually awed at the beautiful wedding gowns around her at the bridal store while she waited for Rosalee to get on her grandmother's dress. The seamstress working there was a lovely girl named Jane, who idly chatted with her about her own wedding dress and the wedding preparations coming along until Rosalee appeared, throwing the curtain open and appearing in her dress. It was all lace up to her neck, with slightly puffy sleeves that encased her whole arms in lace, and a silky skirt down to her feet.

Lena gasped.

Jane smiled, "Looks like alterations won't be needed after all."

"Thanks," Rosalee smiled as she approached the pedestal in front of the three mirrors. "You think my grandma's dress fits?"

"Absolutely. The silhouette's perfect," Jane said.

"What do you think? It's not too "not me," is it?" Rosalee asked Lena.

"No, it fits you, Rose," Lena told her. "You look beautiful."

"Really?" the bride-to-be blushed.

"Stunning," Jane concurred.

Rosalee breathed out, "Whew. Okay, then I guess... I guess... oh, my God! Is this really me?"

Lena stepped up next to her and took her hands, "Listen, stop second guessing yourself. This is your wedding, it's one day. You're going to look perfect and Monroe is just wanna go ahead and get married so he can call you his wife."

Rosalee giggled a bit as she studied her reflection, "Yeah, you're right. Okay."

Lena waited patiently while Rosalee changed back into her street clothes and was ready to move on with their day.

"So," Rosalee said as nonchalantly as possible as they exited the dress shop, "I noticed that you're not wearing your wedding ring."

"Oh," Lena murmured, absentmindedly rubbing the bare finger. "I just… thought it was time. I mean, I've been through two wedding anniversaries without him now. I came here for a fresh start. I don't think I can do that if I'm still acting like I'm married."

"It's not forgetting him to move forward," Rosalee assured her friend, putting an arm around her. "I didn't know Kevin, but I think any husband would want their wife to be happy. You deserve your fresh start."

"I think I've got it here," Lena agreed quietly.

* * *

"How did you do this every night?" Nick asked as the pizza dough he just tried to toss stuck to the ceiling above them.

"Well, to start, we had a higher ceiling," Lena giggled. "We have plenty of dough to work with. Maybe we won't toss it so high this time."

Nick chuckled as they readied the dough and she showed him how to toss it out. He did, and luckily this time it didn't stick to the ceiling and he was able to catch it.

"Okay, did you decide on toppings?" Lena asked while she spooned their homemade pizza sauce with parmesan inside over their dough.

"Unless you have any objections," he said as he pulled out ham and pineapple and pepperoni.

"Oh, that looks good," Lena mused as she started spreading shredded mozzarella over the pizza.

Together, they dispersed the toppings over it and Lena opened the oven to put it in. Nick was still standing beside her, and she bumped into him when she straightened up. They sort of knocked into each other and Nick held her elbows to stop her from bumping into the hot oven.

"Whoa, sorry, didn't think I was in the way," Nick told her, peering down at her. He chuckled when he noticed a bit of red sauce smeared on her chin. "You have a little sauce on you."

"Oh, where?" she asked, fingers reaching up to brush against her cheek.

"Here, I got it," he offered, reaching to try and rub the sauce away. His face got close to hers, his fingers cradling her chin. Lena looked up, meeting his eyes. Her face dropped into a passive sort of expression, just watching him. He couldn't tell what she was thinking, but he knew what he was thinking. He was thinking about how less and less they came to feel like roommates and how more and more his house felt like home with her in it.

When she didn't protest his closeness, and his hand holding her face, he started daring to think that maybe she felt the same. And he leaned in, eyes closing, and pressed his lips to hers.

Lena's stomach felt like a butterfly resort at the contact. She had no idea how she felt other than – as she hadn't expected to feel when she kissed a man after Kevin's death – she didn't feel guilty or wrong. She didn't feel like she was cheating on Kevin. She just felt like Lena – kissing Nick.

They were startled apart by a pounding at the door. They both pulled away, frowning. Nick asked, "Were you expecting anyone?"

Feeling slightly breathless, she shook her head.

"Okay, I'll get rid of whoever it is, and then we'll…" Nick trailed off. Was it going to be awkward now?

"Yeah, yeah, get the door," she ushered him out, setting the timer for the pizza.

Nick groaned inwardly as he approached the door as the person kept banging on it. When he pulled it open, he didn't expect to see his mother with a bundled-up woman taking shelter under a coat from the pounding rain. "Mom?"

"Shut the door," Kelly Burkhardt said, ushering the other woman inside. "I need your help. There's a lot I've got to tell you."

Nick sighed and shut the door, "When did you get here?"

Hearing voices, Lena wandered out of the kitchen, "Everything okay?"

Kelly removed her hood and gave Lena a smile, "Lena, it's good to finally meet you."

"You are?" Lena prompted.

"This is my mom," Nick told her, standing next to her.

Lena gaped at the woman with severe features and spiral curly hair around her chin. "Oh! Kelly!"

Lena was about to formally introduce herself to Kelly when the bundled woman took over the coat blocking her head and revealed herself to be none other than Adalind cradling an infant girl in her arms. When she saw Nick, her eyes widened as she sharply gasped, "Oh, God!"

Nick glared instantly at the blonde woman, but Kelly was rushing to reassure her, "No, no, you're safe here. This is my son, Nick. He'll help protect you."

"Protect me?" Adalind cried out. "He won't protect me, he'll kill me."

"No, no!" Kelly insisted.

"Why did you bring her here?" Nick demanded to know.

"Oh my God! And you're his mother?" Adalind turned on Kelly.

Kelly frowned at her son, "You know her?"

"She's the one who put Juliette in the coma. Tried to kill Hank. Adalind," he filled in.

Kelly gaped at Adalind, "She's that hexenbiest?"

"This is Adalind?" Lena questioned. "The evil hexenbeist that made me scared that I could possibly be half-hexenbiest?"

Kelly frowned in confusion, "Hexenbiest? You thought… no, dear, you're an elemental witch."

"Why did you bring her here?" Nick repeated before Lena could ask what an elemental witch was.

"I'm not staying here," Adalind spoke over him.

"No, no, no, you're not going anywhere," Kelly blocked her when she tried to leave.

"No, she can't stay! No way!" Nick exclaimed.

"No, you don't understand," Kelly told him. "I was recruited by the Resistance to get her to safety."

"Safety, why?" Lena numbly asked.

"I didn't know who she was, only that she and the baby had to be protected at all cost."

"What is so valuable about her?" Nick asked.

"Her child," Kelly revealed softly. "The Verrat were waiting for them outside of Zurich. The Royals want this child."

"If I stay here, he'll kill me," Adalind spoke in fear.

Nick glared at her, "As if I don't have a good reason. You poisoned Juliette. You tried to kill my Aunt Marie."

Kelly turned on Adalind, "You tried to kill my sister?"

"If she needs to be protected, it is not gonna happen here," Nick decided.

"What are you gonna do, Nick?" Adalind asked him sarcastically. "Are you gonna kill me? And my baby, huh? Is that what you're gonna do?"

The house suddenly started to rumble, as if an earthquake shook the foundation. They could hear glass breaking as a picture frame got knocked over.

"What was that?" Lena asked as Nick reached out to steady her.

"That was the baby," Kelly said knowingly.

Adalind grimaced as her daughter started crying. "She's hungry. I haven't had a chance to feed her."

Lena took her in and decided to act. "That blanket is soaking and she's too cold. We need to get her warmed up. Follow me." She started for the stairs but Adalind hesitated. "Adalind, come with me now. We need to take care of your daughter."

Slowly, Adalind followed after her.

"Lena, you can't trust her," Nick warned.

"It's not about trusting her, Nick. It's about what's best for the baby," Lena told him. "This is my job."

Lena led her to the guest room and took the baby girl from Adalind, taking her into the bathroom to strip off the wet blankets and clothes and check her over. She had to make sure the baby was healthy.

"What did you mean?" Adalind weakly called from the room. "By 'this is your job.'"

"I'm a midwife," Lena said as she got out her medical bag. "That includes prenatal and post-natal." She quickly scooped the baby up after checking her over and walked back into the room, "She's warm now. And she seems pretty healthy. Grab that blanket on the chair and put it on the bed." Adalind nervously did as told and Lena laid the baby down to start swaddling her. "How old is she?"

Adalind frowned uncertainly. "I think it's been about ten days."

"That seems about right for her size. What's her name?" Lena asked. She looked back at Adalind's silence and saw the woman frowning. "You haven't named her yet?"

Adalind sounded tearful as she responded, "There were too many people trying to kill us. I just haven't had the chance to think about it."

"Okay. You're exhausted," Lena said, beginning to put the baby in her mother's arms and guiding her to hold her correctly. "Here, hold her like that. And lay down and rest."

"What about Nick? He wants me dead," Adalind asked.

"Whether or not he wants you dead is irrelevant now," Lena said. "There's a baby involved; we all have to think about her safety."

"Why are you helping me?" Adalind asked her in a small voice.

Lena softly stroked the baby girl's soft cheek with a strained smile. "I took an oath. Outside of that, I believe in second chances. Regardless of if you prove trustworthy or not, I've heard a bit about the Royals and know enough to know we can't let them get their hands on your baby. Get some rest, feed your daughter. Call out for me if you need me. My name is Lena."

"Adalind," the hexenbeist introduced herself softly. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me until you're both safe," Lena said as her parting words.

On her way downstairs, she heard Kelly saying, "Well, she must have gotten 'em back."

"Are you kidding me? They can do that?" Nick was asking.

"Yes."

"Who can do what?" she questioned as she joined them in the dining room.

"A hexenbiest who has lost its powers can regain them. Now it makes sense," Kelly breathed.

"Really?" Nick scoffed.

"It's why her baby is so special," Kelly explained. "Nick took Adalind's powers, but while she was pregnant, she must have gone through Contaminatio Ritualis."

"Contaminatio Ritualis?" Lena pronounced slowly.

"For what it's worth, it's supposed to be a long and painful experience that restored her powers," Kelly told them.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me," Nick sighed.

"Listen to me, both of you," Kelly beseeched them. "This child has an extraordinary destiny. In the wrong hands, it could do great evil. But in the right hands, it could do great good."

"So, Adalind's daughter is like the wesen world's John Connor or something?" Lena asked.

Kelly pursed her lips in thought and then nodded, "More or less. I know how it sounds, but personalities appear in the world who people follow. There's no rational explanation why."

"Unless you believe in Fate," Lena surmised.

Nick gave her a look, "What, you do?"

Lena looked at him, "Do you really believe all that's happened since my move is a coincidence? Coming here, meeting you guys, learning about wesen right before I finally woge for the first time? And now this? Adalind who fled Portland, gets rescued from danger by your mother of all people, and they're forced to come here for safety? It has to be connected."

"I don't care how this is connected. If Adalind has her powers back, she's not gonna be doing that kid any good, so as far as I'm concerned, the sooner we get her and her destiny to the Resistance, the better," Nick determined.

"Nick, that's not gonna work either," Kelly said.

"Mom, you've been doing this whole thing for the Resistance," Nick exclaimed.

"The child can't belong to the Resistance or the Royals. She has to have a normal childhood, in as much as that's possible," Kelly insisted. "How she is raised will make all the difference in who she becomes. That means Adalind and the baby stay here..."

"No," Nick protested.

"…until I can figure out what to do with them."

"I have to agree with her," Lena sided with Kelly reluctantly. "If she's raised with this destiny hanging over her head, there's no telling what she'll do with it."

They were cut off by a loud crashing sound. Lena didn't bother asking what it was because it came from upstairs. She rushed up the stairs with Kelly and Nick on her heals and ran into the guest room to see the little baby girl squirming alone on the bed.

"She's gone," Nick said as he and his mother checked the open window.

"She left her baby? What is wrong with her?" Lena stewed in anger as she scooped up the baby and cuddled her to her chest. But a second later, she realized she was really cradling a throw pillow. "Um, Nick?"

Nick looked over to see the baby had turned into a pillow. "Well, I didn't see that coming."

"I told you that baby was powerful. We have to get them back," Kelly said.

"Where would she go?" Nick asked.

Kelly's face dropped, "The truck."

"Go! Go find her!" Lena ushered them out of the house quickly.

* * *

Lena waited around for hours until Nick called her, saying the Verat had found Adalind at Sean's apartment building and attacked. They got out okay, but one of the Verat was an FBI Agent. They were taking Adalind and the baby to Monroe and Rosalee's and Nick asked Lena to meet them there. She was already on her way to the car when they hung up.

"Monroe, Rosalee?" she said as she knocked at their door when she arrived.

"Hey," Monroe said as he let her in. "Are you up to speed with what the hell is going on?"

"Barely," she admitted. "All I know for sure is that there's an innocent baby involved."

"Does Adalind trust you?" Rosalee asked.

"More than Nick and Kelly, for sure," Lena said wryly. "Also, don't know why I'm even still thinking of this with everything going on, but Kelly said my mom was something called an elemental witch… Do you guys know what that is?"

"Well, I've heard of them," Rosalee said slowly. "But they're not wesen so I don't know much other than part of their powers are tied within one of the elements. Fire, water, earth, air…"

"Dandy," Lena sighed as there was a knock at the door.

Monroe went to get it, seeing Nick with a group of people behind him.

"Hey. I really appreciate you doing this."

"Me too," Sean said as he entered, and the door closed.

"Lena," Adalind sighed in relief and immediately went to the midwife's side.

The others were admittedly confused at the hexenbeist trust of Lena, but they were also relieved.

"Well, you remember my mother?" Nick awkwardly carried on.

"Of course. Hi," Rosalee tried to greet the woman warmly.

Kelly just stared and then walked off into the house.

"And, Adalind, this is Monroe and Rosalee," Nick gestured to his friends.

Rosalee peered at the baby in Adalind's arms. "Wow. She's beautiful." She then gestured for Adalind to follow her, "Come on in. Let's get you settled." And only with Lena accompanying her, did she follow.

Rosalee showed Adalind their comfortable couch and had her sit down and relax. Adalind pleaded for Lena to take a look at her daughter and make sure she was okay. Lena took the baby and set her on the coffee table to check her over.

"I also brought a few things you might need," Lena said, gesturing to the bag she'd brought. "It's not much. I only have equipment for babies immediately after birth. But a thermometer is always useful."

"Thank you so much," Adalind breathed as she had her daughter back in her arms. "Everything has been so crazy…"

"Why don't I make some tea?" Rosalee offered, she and Monroe going off into the kitchen.

"Do you think everything will turn out okay?" Adalind asked Lena softly.

Lena slowly shrugged, "I can't say. I grew up ignorant of this whole world, in danger without realizing it. And I'm just now getting to come to grips with what it all means. I can't say that your daughter's life will be easy, or if she'll ever be safe. But you're her mother, and I know you know what kind of sacrifice comes with having children and loving them unconditionally now that you are."

Adalind slowly nodded and stared at her daughter. Kelly wandered into the living room and stood in front of them. She looked like she walked in with a purpose but lost it as she stared at the child holding onto her necklace. Adalind looked up, "Do you want your necklace back?"

"Uh, no," Kelly said, like she'd been pulled out of deep thought. "No, no. Let her keep it."

The others walked into the room as Nick announced, "We're leaving."

Adalind frowned as Lena stood to join them and asked, "All of you?"

"Yeah," Sean said, crouching in front of her. "It's better if you stay with them alone. There's no other way."

* * *

Lena felt uneasy as she had driven back to Nick's house. She didn't know where Sean was going. But she knew Nick and Kelly were behind her in his car and Nick was calling Hank to meet them so they could try to come up with a plan. The whole time, she had a tiny ball of dread in her stomach.

When Hank finally got there, they quickly brought him up to speed, but he was befuddled at how much had happened in such a short time.

"She has a baby? You're kidding me," Hank said.

"Nope," Nick shook his head.

"When did this happen? I mean, when did she give birth?" Hank babbled. "I mean, how old is the baby?"

"It's not yours," Lena chuckled, having been briefed with that drama when Adalind tried to kill Hank to get to Nick.

"Thank God," Hank said with relief. He cringed at his wording, "I mean—thank God. That's not a woman you wanna have a baby with. Who's the idiot father?"

"The captain," Nick smirked.

"Popular, this Adalind," Kelly commented.

"That's one way to look at it," Nick quipped. "Three hundjagers tried to kill the captain and Adalind tonight to get the baby. One of them's an FBI agent working for the royals. We don't have a lot of time."

"Okay. Okay, what do you need me to do?"

They put their heads together and finalized a plan they had already started forming with Sean. Lena didn't like it one bit, but she knew they didn't have a lot of options. They were going to make a show of surrendering the baby to Victor – the Royal – for Adalind's benefit. Then pose as the Resistance and steal the baby from Victor. Kelly would then take the baby and go on the run, raise her, keep her safe.

The bulk of the plan would be put in place the next day. So, they all went to bed. Kelly said she'd go back to Monroe and Rosalee's to guard Adalind and the child. Hank took the couch. Nick and Lena awkwardly went upstairs.

They hovered at the top, neither making the move to go to their separate rooms. Nick didn't look at Lena as he asked, "Should we talk about… what happened? Before my mother and Adalind showed up?"

"Do you want to?" Lena asked him. "Now?"

"Better than never," Nick said, turning to her. "How do you feel about it?"

"Honestly," Lena let out a sigh, "I thought I'd feel like I was betraying Kevin. And I feel guilty… because I didn't feel that way. I wanted it to happen. And I liked it."

Nick couldn't help but smile, more than relieved to hear her say that. "I wouldn't dream of replacing him…"

"I know," she assured him. "Nick, I don't regret what we did, and I would like to talk and figure out what it really means for us. But right this second, all I can really think about is Adalind and the baby and what your mom said about me being a witch. Can we just, wait until this is over and we have time to just sit down?"

"Yeah, of course," Nick said. "And about what my mom said – elemental witch. I've heard that term before."

"You have?" Lena frowned.

"Yeah, I think my cousin, Jessie has a friend who is one," he said. "When this is over, I'll call her. See if she can get you in touch with her friend and you can get some answers."

"Really?" Lena asked, thinking it sounded too easy.

"Yeah," Nick said. "We're going to figure this out for you Lena. Whatever it takes."

Without thinking, Lena leaned up on her toes and kissed him soundly. Nick was startled by it too, but softly kissed her back, cupping her face. This kiss was allowed to slow down and end on its own, and Lena quietly said, "Goodnight, Nick."

"Goodnight, Lena," he said just as quietly as she went into her room.

* * *

The next day, Nick and Lena shared a heavy look as he left for the station with Hank. She didn't even have any appointments to keep her occupied as she waited to hear if the plan worked. She had moved nervously from one room to the next all day until nightfall came and she finally got the call from Nick. It worked. Kelly was already on the road with baby Diana – what Adalind had finally settled on naming her – and he was on his way home.

She had hugged him tightly when he made it through the door to reassure herself that he was okay. They eventually slumped onto the couch with cold pizza from the night before and beers. "Do you have any idea where they are?"

Nick shook his head, "You know my mom enough by now to know they could be anywhere."

"What do you think she's gonna do?" Lena asked him next.

"Probably what my aunt Marie did with me. Move around a lot," Nick took a drink of his beer.

"It'll be different for her," Lena assured him, and herself. "I just can't imagine how Adalind must be freaking out right now."

As if she made it happen, there was a knocking at the door. Nick immediately got up to get it but paused when he saw who it was through the window at the top of the door. He looked back at Lena, "It's Adalind."

Lena gaped, standing, "What?"

Nick turned back to open the door, seeing a meek looking Adalind standing there. "I need your help. Can I come in?" He quickly ushered her in and she looked more and more wired up as she entered. "Sean gave her away."

"What are you talking about?" Nick feigned confusion well enough.

"He gave my baby to Viktor. I need you to help me get her back," Adalind sounded close to sobs.

"Adalind, come sit," Lena tried to usher the woman to the couch.

But Adalind shook her off, "No, no, no, no. I can't stay. I have to find my baby." She beseeched Nick, "Nick, you got to get your mom out of jail. I know... I don't care if she killed my mom. That was all my fault anyway. I just really need my baby back."

"They released her a couple of hours ago," Nick said lowly.

"What?" Adalind gaped.

"They didn't have enough evidence to hold her."

Adalind got excited, looking around the house, "Is she here? I-I have to talk to her."

"Adalind, she's gone," Lena stopped her from checking the whole house.

Adalind gasped, "What? No. When?"

"Right after they let her go," Nick told her. "She didn't want to stick around, considering what had happened."

"Okay, well, then you have to get her back. She'll help me," Adalind begged.

"Adalind, there's one thing you have to understand about my mom. When she leaves, she's gone," Nick explained.

"Then you have to find her," Adalind said.

"She doesn't tell anybody where she goes," Nick sighed.

"Then  _you_  have to help me!" Adalind cried.

Lena frowned, "Adalind, if the Royals really have her, they're not in Portland anymore."

Adalind snarled at her, woging into her vicious hexenbeist form, voice gravelly, "I'm not giving up my baby."

"I'm saying that there's nothing we can do up against the entire Royal family," Lena told her, barely flinching at the hexenbiest's woge.

"Well, I'm not doing nothing," Adalind snarled again, woging back and storming out of the house.

Lena had tears in her eyes as she whispered, "I don't feel good about this."

"We had no choice," Nick told her as they sat back down on the couch.

"We took a child away from her mother," Lena let out a shaky breath. "And with her track record in the past, how far will she go to get her baby back? With her powers back and all? There's no telling what she'll do and how that will get back to us."

"The important thing is that the baby is safe with my mom," Nick said. He tentatively reached for her hand and held it.

Lena stared at their intertwined fingers, asking wryly, "Is this your subtle way of reminding me that we still need to talk?"

"Just easing into it," Nick said, leaning back against the couch.

"Wouldn't it be weird for you?" she asked, looking over at him. "Being a Grimm, and being with a wesen? Not even a normal wesen, but a wesen-witch hybrid."

"Every couple has their obstacles," Nick told her. "We don't have to think about that right now. We can take things slow."

"Slow…" Lena nodded slowly. "I can get on board with slow. But we probably already failed at that. We started living together the night we first met."

Nick chuckled at her words, "Right, but we were friends first."

"True," Lena admitted. "Are you sure you're ready for something like this?"

Nick knew she meant, was he ready to move on after Juliette left him and broke his heart. And truly, he was. He would never see Juliette again. And even if she had stayed at first, accepted it all at first, there's no telling whether their relationship would corrode eventually because of his world. There was no protecting Lena from that, she was already ingrained in it. And he just found himself drawn into her. In helping her heal. Helping her learn about this new world. Protecting her. Even opening up to her. He was ready.

So, he nodded, certain. "Yes, I am. Are you?"

Lena sighed slowly, "I'll never stop loving Kevin…"

"I would never expect that," Nick immediately assured her.

"But I also can't guard myself from potential happiness in a new beginning because I'm living in the past," Lena continued. "So, yes, I'm ready."

Nick grinned, squeezing her hand, "Then, would you like to have dinner with me? In a restaurant…"

Lena smiled and squeezed his hand back, "I'd love to."


	11. Here Comes Trubel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick stumbles onto another Grimm, much to everyone's shock. And Lena opens up to Nick about the worst part of her past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Delicate subject matter discussed

Lena was just pulling lasagna out of the oven when she heard the door open, "Nick?"

"Yeah," he called to her.

"I was wondering when you'd get home," she said. "I just finished with the lasagna."

"I hope there's enough for three," his voice sounded trepidatious.

Frowning in confusion, she went to see who was there. She saw Nick standing in the dining room with a young woman, who couldn't be older than twenty-one, dressed in dark clothing carrying a large backpack over her shoulder. She had dark eyes and short black hair cut close to her head, with fringe hanging in her eyes.

"Lena, this is Theresa Rubel," Nick awkwardly introduced.

"Hi, Theresa," Lena greeted the nervous looking girl awkwardly. "Are you staying for dinner?"

"Nobody calls me Theresa," the girl said, voice deep.

"Oh, well, then what  _do_  they call you?" Lena asked.

"They call me Trubel," she answered.

Lena smirked weakly, "Interesting. Can't lie and say I haven't been called that myself."

"Trubel might have to be staying with us for a little while. She needs to lay low," Nick said quietly.

"Lay low?" Lena repeated. "Is she part of a case of yours?"

"Little more than that," Nick hedged.

"By more you mean…?" Lena asked him with her eyes – wesen?

Nick smiled gracelessly, trying not to be as awkward as he felt. "She's a Grimm."

Lena had to do a double take, eyes widening, "A what? A Grimm?"

"Yeah. Sounded just as weird to me too," Trubel deadpanned.

"We can't get any rest around here," Lena murmured to herself. "How in the hell did you find another Grimm in one lousy day?"

"It's complicated," Nick admitted. "She just found out."

Lena crossed her arms and straightened her posture. "As in she just started seeing what Grimms see, or like she's seen them for a while, and you had to tell her what it was called?"

"The second one," Nick sighed.

"Oh god," Lena sighed too. She turned to Trubel, concerned and understanding, "That sounds like a nightmare, honestly." She took a breath and said, "Well, Trubel, I hope you're hungry because I've got a whole pan of lasagna just out of the oven. Have a seat, I'll grab plates and silverware."

Nick helped, getting them all glasses of water and setting the lasagna out on the table while Lena grabbed cutlery. They sat down and Trubel quickly dug into the food, shoveling it all into her mouth as quick as she could, gulping the water to wash it down.

She caught Nick and Lena watching her eat for a moment and blushed, wiping the corner of her mouth sheepishly. "Sorry. It's been a while since I ate with other people."

"Don't worry about it," Lena reassured her. "I've been there. When you don't know where your next meal is gonna be. Dig in, there's plenty."

Eagerly, Trubel dished out more lasagna onto her plate. She looked at Nick and asked, "So are all of the grimms so normal?"

Nick snorted, "You should meet my mother. She's been called a lot of things, but normal's not one of 'em."

"Does that mean we're related?" Trubel asked curiously.

"Maybe a few centuries ago," he surmised. "From what I can tell, it's like a recessive gene."

"At least you know you're not alone with this," Lena commented. "Nick has a cousin in California who's a Grimm too."

"So, you see these wesen things too?" Trubel asked her.

Lena floundered. Should they tell her that Lena was wesen? "I can. But I'm not a Grimm."

"So, how do you deal with this?" Trubel asked, gesturing between her and Nick with her fork.

Lena shrugged, "It's the world. I know about it. There's no going back."

"Lena isn't like us, but she…" Nick looked at her, asking permission.

Lena sighed and admitted, "I'm part wesen."

Trubel instantly dropped her silverware with a clatter and stood to attention. Nick stood too, holding his hands out for her, "Wait, no, no, no, she won't hurt you."

"I'm only half, as it is," Lena explained. "And I just found out a few months ago. I'm new to all of this too."

Trubel froze, still tense.

"I promise, you're safe here," Nick swore. "My friend, the other wesen you saw, he wouldn't hurt you either. Not all wesen want to kill you."

"Most of them are afraid of you," Lena quipped.

Trubel slowly sat back down, but still seemed on edge. She locked eyes on Lena, "What kind are you?"

"My father was a Fuchsbau," Lena said slowly. "Kind of like a fox. I can show you if you want? But I'm not a model for what other fuchsbaus look like since my mother wasn't one."

Trubel braced herself, clenching her hands. "Show me."

"Okay," Lena sighed, gearing herself up. She'd been practicing woging back and forth with Monroe and Rosalie. She gently swayed her head around, feeling the woge come over her. Her glowing eyes widened when she saw Trubel's eyes turn into black holes, reflecting her half-fuchsbau form back to her. But she took a deep breath and woged back. "I don't think I look that scary."

"Maybe not," Trubel reluctantly agreed. "How does a wesen end up with a Grimm?"

"Long story," Nick sighed.

"It's new," Lena said at the same time.

Once Trubel seemed to have her fill of lasagna, Lena got the guest room cleared out for her while Nick cleaned up in the kitchen. On Nick's insistence, she reluctantly put her stuff in his bedroom. She grabbed some plain pants and a clean shirt for Trubel out of her things and met the girl in the guest room. "Here, clean clothes for you to sleep in."

"I'm fine with what I have," Trubel said, still keeping a tight grip on her bag.

"Okay, I'll set them here," she dropped the clothes on the chair. "Don't be afraid to come find either of us if you need anything."

"I won't, but, uh, thanks for the lasagna," Trubel said awkwardly, finally dropping her bag.

"Don't worry about it," Lena assured her. "Good night."

As Lena shut the door, she motioned for Nick to follow her into his room. Once that door was closed, she turned to him, "Okay, I am really interested to know how the hell you found a Grimm. I mean, I saw her eyes downstairs. But how did you know she was a Grimm? Can Grimm see other Grimms like wesen see Grimms?"

Nick waited for her to pause before he answered her, "Monroe saw her."

Lena gaped, "Monroe saw her?"

"And she killed three wesen," Nick grimaced as he admitted.

"Are we harboring a murder suspect?" Lena asked sarcastically.

"Well, not technically a suspect, because we know she did it, but it was self-defense. They attacked her. She has no idea what she is, let alone what they were," Nick quickly explained.

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around how this is possible," Lena sighed. "We just got done with the whole Adalind's baby and your mom thing."

"I know this is a lot," Nick admitted. "She's been on the run for years. I mean, she thought she was crazy. She just needs a little help."

"Nick, you don't have to convince me," Lena reassured him. "I understand – outside of the Grimm stuff – what she's probably been through. I mean, I used to  _be_  her. She's got foster kid spat out by the system written all over her. She needs someone like you to guide her through this stuff, so she understands what it all means. Shelter doesn't exactly hurt either."

"Thank you," Nick sighed in relief. "I took her to the trailer, tried to explain what she was as best I could, but that's a lot to take in for someone as young as she is."

"You're just gonna have to keep going over it with her," Lena said. "Now… new sleeping arrangements…"

"Don't worry, I'll take the couch," Nick said.

Lena sighed. "You can't keep getting kicked out of your own bed."

"It's for good reason," Nick insisted. "And I know that things are different between us than they were when Alicia was here, but I also don't want to put any pressure on things by staying in here. We'll figure something else out if we have to. But we don't have to tonight."

Lena sighed. Part of her wanted to invite Nick to sleep in the bed with her. But the other part of her was too nervous to take that kind of step. They hadn't even had a first date yet. So, she reluctantly agreed. She then gave Nick a look, "You know she's gonna sneak out as soon as she thinks we're asleep, right?"

"I suspected as much," Nick admitted. "But do you really think…?"

"I used to be her," she reminded him softly. "I  _know_."

* * *

Lo and behold, Trubel did try to sneak out with her things. She got out the front door, but Nick was waiting for her.

"Would you be more comfortable in a jail cell? Because that's where you're gonna end up if you walk out on this."

Trubel looked exhausted and still confused by the kindess shown to her. "You don't owe me anything."

"I know the world you've been living in. I can help," Nick told her.

"Why do you care?"

"Because I'm like you," Nick said, walking up to her. "It's not easy. Plus, I had help, and you didn't. Look. I haven't quite worked this out, but I just think this might help us both. You might have seen some things I haven't. Besides, I like having another Grimm around." As he went back inside, he handed her the black chess piece she'd dropped when she was attacked. It was special to her for some reason. He left the door open, knowing she'd return.

* * *

As soon as Nick woke up and started making coffee, he pulled out his phone to call Jessie.

"Hey, Nick, what's up?" Jessie answered.

"Hey, quick question, you have a friend that's an elemental witch, right?" Nick asked quickly.

"Yeah, Georgie," Jessie told him. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I told you about Lena, right?" he responded.

"Yeah, what about her?"

"Well, we just found out that her mother was an elemental witch, so that means she is too," Nick told her. "I hate to ask for a favor, but do you think you could ask Georgie to talk to Lena and kind of help her figure out how it works, or even what her element is?"

"Of course," Jessie agreed instantly. "I'll talk to her when we get to school. She can probably call Lena when we have lunch or after school if that works?"

"Perfect," Nick smiled. "Thank you."

"No problem," she said. "It'll probably be good for Georgie to talk to another witch, what with Sonia still… away. Text me Lena's number and I'll pass it along."

"Okay, I will," he said. "Thanks. Bye."

"Bye."

Lena had just been coming downstairs as he hung up, "Hey, your room's free if you need clothes and stuff."

"Thanks," Nick said. "I just got off the phone will Jessie. She's gonna give your number to her witch friend, Georgie. She'll call you around lunch or after four since they have school."

"Thank you for doing that," Lena seemed relieved.

"It's no problem," Nick told her. He quickly went upstairs to change for the day before Hank showed up. They were going to try and re-introduce Trubel to Monroe and Rosalee as wesen.

"Hey, Lena," Hank said as she let him into the house when he arrived.

"Hey, Hank, coffee?" she offered as she led him to the kitchen.

"Please," he said as she poured him a cup.

"Hey, Hank," Nick greeted his partner shortly before he pulled out his phone to call Monroe and Rosalee.

" _Hello_ ," Rosalee answered.

"Hey, it's Nick," Nick replied.

" _Hey_   _Nick_."

"Is Monroe there?"

" _Yeah, just one second, he's doing his exercises_."

"Put him on speaker."

Once she did so, he heard Monroe asking, " _So how'd it go last night? Everybody still alive?_ "

"Yeah, for the time being. Look, I need your and Rosalee's help with her," Nick started gently.

" _And by help, you mean_..." Rose trailed off.

"What you did for Hank, and Lena," Nick said.

" _Oh_ ," Monroe muttered. " _Nick, this girl is a Grimm. She can already see us_."

"No, no, no. She's used to every wesen trying to kill her," Nick told them. "She needs to know that..."

" _We're not all bad_ ," Rosalee finished.

"This is the next step," Nick said.

" _All right, all right, Nick. Just tell her to leave that machete behind,_ " Monroe said.

" _She has a machete?_ " Rosalee cried.

Nick quickly got off the phone and sighed, "Well, that's settled."

"I'm gonna talk to Trubel before you guys leave," Lena said.

"Wait, you're not coming?" Hank asked.

She shook her head, "I've got an appointment in half an hour." She quickly made her way up the stairs and gently knocked on the door of the guest room.

Trubel was still dressed and alert when she opened it. "Um, hey."

"Hey, can I come in?" Lena asked.

Trubel stood still for a second and then stepped aside to let her into the room.

"So, Nick arranged for you to meet our friends Monroe and Rosalee," Lena explained. "They're good people and it's important that you see for yourself that not all wesen want to kill you."

Trubel didn't say anything.

Lena sighed, "I know this is all overwhelming. I had a rough go of it in the system too growing up. I know I don't have to tell you that not all foster parents are in it for the right reasons. I was out on my own at fifteen. I always felt like a freak, like I was different, but I didn't know why. That was the case until a few months ago when I met Rosalee, and Monroe, and Nick and they explained it all to me. It takes time to wrap your head around the fact that you're not crazy and you're not a freak, that there are realities other people just can't see and experience the way you can. But we do."

Trubel seemed to be taking in her words, and relaxing. "You ran away at fifteen?"

Lena nodded patiently, "Yeah. I'm sure you know how hard things get on the streets. But I made a better life for myself and now I'm here with people who understand and want to help me. If you let us, we can understand and help you."

"We'll see," Trubel said quietly.

"Well, I have an appointment in half hour and have to get going, but you'll be fine with Nick," Lena said.

Trubel frowned, "Appointment? Are you sick?"

"No, I'm a midwife," Lena told her. "Used to be a paramedic."

"I bet that comes handy around here," Trubel commented.

Lena nodded wryly, "You have no idea."

* * *

"Hi, Nick, Hank," Rosalee sounded nervous as she answered the door and ushered the three of them into the house.

"Rosalee, Monroe. This is... Trubel," Nick awkwardly introduced.

"Well, I'm Rosalee," Rosalee smiled at Trubel.

"Fuchsbau," Trubel deadpanned.

Rosalee smiled strained, "Right. And I hear you met Monroe yesterday."

"Yeah," Monroe awkwardly chuckled. "I never really had a chance to properly introduce..."

"Blutbad."

Monroe grimaced, "Yeah."

Trubel looked around the room, seeing the collection of clocks on the mantle, "You, uh, really got a thing for clocks."

"Oh, yeah," Monroe eased a bit. "Big fan of time in general." He chuckled weakly, "I mean, you think about it... history, music, love. A long life, right? None of it would work without... Timing."

"And speaking of, we might want to get these other introductions out of the way," Nick urged.

Rosalee nodded. "So why don't we just start with explaining what a woge is?"

"I know what it is," Trubel said.

"Okay, well, there's also, like, um, stages. So there's Kehrseiten. And they are non-wesen, non-Grimm types," Rosalee explained.

Hank raised his hand, "That would be me."

"And they can only see us when we want them to," Rosalee said. "And grimms, like you, on the other hand, also can see us when we don't wanna be seen." She paused to brace herself. "You ready?"

Trubel nodded in a fluttering motion.

"Here goes," Rose sighed before she shared a look with Monroe and they woged together. They kept calm as they let Trubel take in their forms, watching her eyes turn completely dark. "See? No big deal." The couple relaxed and woged back. "See, everything's fine."

"How do you know I'm a Grimm?" Trubel asked quickly.

"Um... It's your eyes," Rosalee almost shivered at that.

"They get really dark when we woge," Monroe explained.

"It's kind of scary," Rosalee admitted.

"Really?" Trubel asked.

"Yeah, we're not talking kiddy pool dark. We're talking, like, all the way down to your soul, deep-type dark," Monroe illustrated.

Trubel seemed to relax then before muttering, "Cool."

Nick's phone rang then, and he quietly walked off to take it, "Burkhardt."

"So that went well, right?" Monroe asked with a strained smile. "Still friends?"

"This is so weird," Trubel chuckled lightly. "You know, everybody telling me what I saw wasn't real, I made it up."

"Well, honey, you didn't," Rosalee assured her, reaching forward to place a delicate hand on her shoulder. "Look, this is new for... for all of us. Nick is the first Grimm who didn't try to kill us. So, this is as important for Monroe and me as it is for you. But not all wesen are like us. So, you need to be careful."

"Okay."

"We gotta go. There's a body in forest park," Nick said as he hung up his phone.

"What about Trubel?" Hank asked.

"Um... We can take her with us," Nick said.

"How are we gonna explain that?"

"Ride along," Nick shrugged. "Yeah, we can say she's a, uh..."

Everyone stared at her, wondering what they could tell people about her that wouldn't seem suspicious.

"What?" Trubel asked under their looks.

"Criminology student?" Hank suggested.

"Oh, perfect," Rosalee said.

"Great idea. That's the best."

* * *

Lena was getting a quick bite for lunch before she had to get going to another appointment with a potential new client when her phone rang. She didn't recognize the number, but answered it anyway, "Hello?"

"Is this Lena?" a young woman's voice asked. "I'm Georgie, Jessie's friend."

"Oh, yes this is Lena," Lena quickly paid her lunch check and got into her car so she wouldn't be overheard. "Thanks for calling. I have no idea what I'm doing."

"It's no problem," Georgie said. "But I have to say that it's really strange for a witch to just come into her powers in her late twenties. I was a late bloomer getting my powers at four years old."

"Well, I might actually know why that is," Lena thought out loud. "I don't know if Jessie told you about my half-wesen side, but my Uncle Freddy had been giving me this tea to suppress it in order to keep me hidden. It must have suppressed the witch too."

"Possibly, I've never heard of something like that," Georgie said. "Why don't you tell me what kind of things you've been experiencing? That might help narrow down what element you have."

"Well, I've moved things without touching them, created this weird see-through but blue wall when someone attacked," Lena explained. "And once I… teleported? One second, I was home and the next there was like a twister around me and I was somewhere else."

"Well, definitely sounds like you have air," Georgie said confidently. "You move things without touching them because you move the air around them. And you can manipulate air into a solid form, that's how you made the wall. And witches can teleport, but the mode of transportation always has something to do with your element. Mine is fire, so I disappear and reappear in flames. Yours is air, so you'll do that with a strong wind."

"Wow," Lena said slowly. "This is a lot."

"I understand it may sound overwhelming to you," Georgie said. "I grew up with my abilities knowing what they are. Same with my sister. I imagine your powers have been coming out in great emotional distress? That used to happen to me when I was younger."

"Yeah, pretty much," Lena sighed. "Mostly when I get scared or panic. I've yet to be able to do anything when I try to on purpose."

"That'll just take time and practice," Georgie explained. "You basically visualize what you want to happen, happening, and it becomes an extension of you. Eventually, it'll be second nature."

"I hope so," Lena said as she heard a shrill ringing over the phone.

"That's the bell, I've got to get to class," Georgie said. "Look, you have my number now. Feel free to call or text me with any questions you might have later. And trust me, anything you go through is just a normal part of being a witch."

"Thanks, I'll talk to you later," Lena said as they hung up.

* * *

Lena could not believe her ears when Nick brought a bleeding Trubel home. Apparently, Trubel rode along with Nick and Hank for the day and ended up using herself as bait to expose a shop lifting ring two lebensaugers were running. Of course, when she returned to their hideout, they attacked her. She stabbed the female in the neck, while Hank and Nick arrived in time to shoot down the male.

"Oh my god!" she exclaimed when he finished telling her what happened. She pointed sternly to the couch and ordered Trubel to sit down while she got her medical bag.

"I'm sorry," Trubel murmured as Lena cleaned her wound. "I screwed up, didn't I?"

"Well, you found the girls, so..." Nick trailed off. They could tell that he was disappointed and frustrated with how today had gone.

"Hey, it's okay. I messed up, I know it," Trubel admitted while Lena started wrapping her wound in gauze. "I'm just not used to being the hunter. And I guess I got carried away. I need to know more. I hope you're still willing to help me."

"Why don't we continue this in the morning?" Lena suggested as she taped off the gauze and started putting her supplies away. "You both had an exciting day and need to rest."

"Okay," Trubel slowly nodded and said goodnight before going to bed.

"How bad was it?" Lena asked Nick as he let out a sigh.

"She's gonna get herself killed," Nick lamented.

"She made it this far," Lena pointed out, pulling him to sit next to her on the couch. "Now that she knows she's not crazy, she just got excited to help. To learn the truth. She probably feels like she's way behind and is just in a rush to catch up. I know that's how I still feel sometimes."

"You haven't drawn blood," Nick quipped.

Lena frowned and sighed. She put her hand over his and said softly, "Nick, I should probably tell you some stuff about me. I was a very different person when I was younger. I did a lot of bad things."

Nick schooled his features, asking evenly, "What do you mean?"

Lena averted her eyes, "I don't want you to think differently of me."

Nick encased her hands in his and squeezed them, "Look at me."

She slowly lifted her eyes to meet his.

"Whatever you have to tell me, won't change how I feel about you," he assured her. "I know and care for who you are now and that's what's important to me."

Lena let out a shaky breath, "Okay… well, you know I was homeless for a long time as a teenager."

"Yeah, I do," he said softly, not wanting to cut in too much.

"Well, I got pretty desperate," Lena spoke quietly, distantly. "I was a young girl, alone, hungry, cold. Lots of dangerous characters try to take advantage of a situation like that. I had to do a lot of things I'm not proud of just to survive."

Nick waited patiently for her to carry on.

"I shoplifted," she revealed. "Whatever I could to hawk later for money for food and clothes without holes in them. I never got caught doing that. But like I said, dangerous people try to take advantage, got me involved in dealing drugs, taking them, picking pockets. Whatever it took to survive. I was scared. I had no one looking out for me and the people who pretended they were, were just using me."

"Lena, you didn't have a lot of options," Nick told her. "And you still got out of that life. I mean, you got better. Like Rosalee. It's not you anymore."

"That's not the worst of it…" she whispered, pulling her hands away from his and wrapping her arms around herself.

"Lena, it won't change anything," Nick tried to reach for her, but she flinched away.

"Just let me get it all out before you react, okay?" she pleaded with him.

Nick calmly nodded, just watching her and trying to silently reassure her that he would still be here when she told him what she needed to tell him.

"Remember Frankie?" she asked. "How I know how she felt being gang raped."

Nick clenched his jaw as he nodded, having a feeling of what was coming next.

"That was because…" Lean sighed as she wiped away tears from her cheeks. She couldn't look at him. "While I was mixed in with the wrong people, I was sharing a squatting spot in a warehouse with two guys. I thought they were watching out for me. I trusted them. But… they just wanted… what they wanted…" She sniffed loudly and rubbed at her tear-filled eyes, letting out a small sob. "They, uh, woke me up in the middle of the night one night. Told me I had another job to do in order to earn my place with them. I thought we were going to rob some late-night joggers or something. But that's not what they meant."

Nick felt anger bubbling up inside him at what she must have gone through.

"They raped me," she said, voice choked up. "One of them held me down while the other… took his turn. When they were done, they told me to stay put because they'd be ready for round two soon. I was so scared. I knew they'd kill me once they were really done with me, or worse, I'd become their whore whether I liked it or not. So…" she took another deep breath, "when I saw one of their guns left on the ground under a sleeping bag, I picked it up and I… shot them in the back. Until there were no bullets left. I dumped the gun in the creek while I ran away, as far as I could. And I always regretted the way it happened. Because it was over for them before they ever really paid for what they did to me. But it's never over for me."

After her story was over, small sobs rocked her body as she curled into a ball, crying into her hands. While Nick was outraged at what she'd gone through, he held none of that animosity against her. He took her into his arms, even with her fighting his hold, and brought her against his side. Her head lolled onto his shoulder as she let her cries out. He remained silent, stroking her hair comfortingly.

Once her cried subsided, Nick kissed the top her head, whispering fiercely, "You were all alone in a bad situation, the worst situation. You had no choice when the worst happened. It was self-defense, no one would ever blame you for what you did. I don't blame you." He pulled her face up to look at him and kissed her forehead. "It doesn't change anything other than showing me how truly strong you are to have overcome so much. I'm proud of you."

"Are you sure?" she whispered. "I know it's a lot to ask someone to accept."

"I'm sure," Nick reassured her. "I swear. Over the past few months, I've gotten to know you well and I think you've gotten to know me too. And I care about you, a lot. I admire how strong you are. I like it when you get excited over helping Rosalee with the wedding. Or when you talk about work. How you find enjoyment in rock 'em sock 'em robots and know how to make pizza from scratch. You're easy to talk to and you've taken all this Grimm and wesen stuff better than anyone I've had to explain it to."

She smiled weakly and wiped under her eyes that now got a little smudged with makeup. "I like you too, Nick."

"I promise your past doesn't change anything," he said certainly. "I'm still here for you."

"Then can I ask you a favor?" she averted her eyes insecurely.

"Yes. What is it?" he asked.

"Will you come sleep in your bed with me?" she whispered. "Just to sleep. Maybe hold me? I don't want to be alone."

"Are you sure?" he asked, cupping her face.

She nodded, "Please?"

Nick gave her a gentle kiss and agreed, following her upstairs. She still changed for bed in the privacy of the bathroom while he quickly changed in the room. And things felt a little anxious as they slipped under the duvet. But once she laid her head on his chest and he put his arm around her, they relaxed into each other.

"Nick?" Lena whispered as she fell asleep. "Thank you…"

"Any time, I'm here," he whispered back as he fell asleep with her.


	12. Key

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another grimm wanders into Portland looking for Nick.

"Okay, I think that's all for now," Lena said as she and Rosalee went over wedding tasks to be done at the shop's counter. "How does spaghetti sound for dinner tonight?"

Rosalee smiled, "Sounds delicious. And thank you again for helping out so much with the wedding. I can't imagine doing it all on my own since my sister's so busy…"

"Like I said I love weddings and I love you and Monroe," Lena told her. "Of course, I am at your disposal. It was the perfect time with my patient load so small still."

"And… how are things going with Nick?" Rosalee asked slowly, a small secretive smile on her face.

Lena knew what that smile meant. "How could you tell?"

Rosalee smiled gleefully, "You just have that kind of glow about you. And… Nick let it slip to Monroe."

"Damn," Lena cursed. "I was hoping to tell you myself soon. It's really new."

"I think it's really perfect," Rosalee told her. "You and Nick obviously got very close since you came to Portland, and I think you've both helped each other. And you're always concerned with the other first before yourselves. At first, I thought it was just because that's how Nick is, but I think it's more than that."

"I don't know what it is just yet," Lena sighed. "All I know is that I like Nick. It's easy to talk to him, there are no secrets, and we can support and help each other."

"I think it's sweet," Rosalee said. "And I think it works."

"I hope it keeps working," Lena smiled meekly.

* * *

Lena was on the phone with the man making Monroe and Rosalee's wedding cake while Nick got wine from the garage and Rosalee tossed the salad. She had just hung up and walked into the kitchen, telling Rosalee, "Papa Haydn's all set with the cake, by the way."

"And you have the playlist for the reception?" Rosalee asked as she finished the salad.

"Yep, that's done," Lena told her. "And the place cards are ready. They just need to be picked up." She picked up the bowl of spaghetti.

"Oh. I'll do that," Rosalee offered.

"No, I got it," Lena assured her.

"Wow," Monroe whistled. "You're doing all that?"

"I warned you all that I love weddings," Lena laughed as she brought the spaghetti to the table.

"There'd be no wedding without Lena," Rosalee said, following her with the salad.

"Wait a minute, what about the groom? Don't you need me?" Monroe asked.

"Oh, for certain things," Rosalee smirked.

"The best man has the easiest job in the world," Lena complained. "All Nick has to do is... is not lose the ring and make a speech."

"What ring? What speech?" Nick joked as he set out silverware, earning concerned looks from the party around him. He grinned, "Yeah, yeah, I got the ring."

"And what about the toast?" Monroe asked.

"It's getting there," Nick said, going back to the kitchen for wine glasses.

"As long as it's done Saturday," Lena warned him.

"Saturday. This Saturday?" Nick said. Everyone stared for a moment and he grinned and complained, "Nobody gets me," before calling upstairs, "Trubel, dinner!"

"I'll just get her," Lena said lightly, jogging upstairs.

"Hey, how's Trubel handling all this, by the way?" Monroe asked as he and Rosalee took their seats as Nick poured them wine.

"She seems to be handling it well," he answered. He took a seat at the head of the table. "I'm just glad I didn't find out when I was that young."

"How much do you actually know about Trubel?" he asked.

"Not a lot," Nick admitted. "I've been trying not to push. I just know she's had years of people telling her that she's crazy."

"And how are things going with Lena?" Monroe asked slyly.

Nick gave him a look, gesturing to Rosalee.

The Fuchsbau rolled her eyes, "Lena told me this morning. I'm really happy you found each other."

"Well, it wasn't hard, she slept down the hall," Monroe quipped.

"Ha, ha," Nick said sarcastically. "It's new and everything, but I was never able to be as open and honest with Juliette since becoming a Grimm that I can be with Lena. And she actually understands most of it, without having to force it. We're taking things slow, seeing where it goes."

"I think it will go well," Rosalee said optimistically.

Lena came back downstairs and sat next to Nick at the table. Trubel wandered down after her, pausing at the table, "Sorry. Was everybody waiting for me?"

"We thought we would all eat together," Nick said, gesturing to the empty seat and plate for her.

"Oh. I gotta get used to this too," Trubel said as she sat down.

"You like spaghetti?" Rosalee asked.

"No. I  _love_  spaghetti," Trubel answered, seeming more relaxed with them.

"Eat as much as you can then," Lena said, dishing herself some before gesturing for Trubel to get her food.

Trubel quickly scooped spoonful after spoonful onto her plate.

"Can I say something, Trubel?" Rosalee asked, looking wary but warm.

"Uh-huh."

"I know I don't really know much about you. But I'd like to say that I think you're doing a pretty good job handling this, considering how incredibly difficult this must have been," Rosalee said.

"Well, I really didn't expect to live this long," Trubel admitted.

Nick, Monroe, and Rosalee all seemed alarmed at her words. But Lena understood what she meant. She put a brief hand on the younger woman's shoulder and said, "Good to see you've exceeded your own expectations then. Eat."

Trubel seemed relieved she'd said something to break the tension and dug into her food.

Monroe changed the subject, "So, Lena, Rosalee mentioned you have two new patients. Things are really picking up for you in the midwifery world."

Lena smiled and sipped her wine, "Yeah, these best friends collaborated and conspired together to get pregnant at the same time. Somehow it worked. Their due dates are within two weeks of each other. They're determined to raise their children together. Their husbands have little to do with the appointments. By policy they have to have separate appointments scheduled, but one of them is always at the other's appointment."

"That sounds scarily codependent," Nick commented around his food.

"They've already picked out names for their kids whether they have boys or girls or a combination, and they all rhyme," Lena deadpanned.

"That just sounds scary," Trubel joked.

"Let's just say I  _can_  wait until they give birth," Lena said. "Or rather I hope it all goes by quickly and I never have to see them again."

The table laughed before conversation turned to wedding plans or work or how underrated the glockenspiel was according to Monroe.

Trubel had practically licked her plate clean so Lena asked, "Do you want more? Hand me your plate, I'll get it."

"Thanks," she awkwardly smiled as Lena took his plate to get her more food from the kitchen.

"You remember the first time you saw a wesen?" Rosalee asked Trubel.

"Yeah, I remember. It was in one of the foster homes I grew up in," she said.

Rosalee looked pensive. "I was 13 when I found out I was a Fuchsbau."

This confused Trubel, "You didn't know?"

"You don't really know when you're a kid," Monroe explained. "Kind of hits you later. But at least we had family to tell us what was going on."

"You really didn't have anyone to help you through this?" Rosalee asked sadly.

Trubel shook her head, "Mm-mm."

"When did you find out?" Rosalee asked gently.

"Um..." Trubel kept her face clear of emotion as she started to explain, "There was this guy that used to fix things around the house. He was always really nice to me, till, uh..." She had everyone's undivided attention now.

Nick and Lena shared a look as she returned to the room with Trubel's plate, remembering what Lena had gone through.

"One day he asked me to help him in the garage. And he grabbed me. I saw his face change. And, um... He pushed me down on the floor. But I was so scared by what I saw, that I just grabbed the first thing I could, which was a-a screwdriver. And really all I wanted to do was just push him away from me, but, um..." she trailed off, the assured them, "He didn't die... Or anything. He just... he did get off me really fast, though." She chucked wryly at that. "And that was the first time I heard anybody say "Grimm." I-I told everybody what I saw. And that was the first time they locked me up. Said I was lying. And then when I said I wasn't, they said I had to be crazy so... Yeah, I got pretty used to being crazy." There was moisture in her eyes as she looked at all of them. "Until I met all you guys. I realized I wasn't alone." She paused, taking in their stares, before finally looking at Lena with the plate of food. "Can I have that now?"

This broke up the tension. Lena chuckled and set her plate down. The landline started ringing then, and being closest, Lena answered it, "Hello?" There wasn't an immediate answer. "Hello?"

"Um, is Nick Burkhardt there?" a nervous sounded man asked.

"Yes, may I ask who's asking?" Lena asked him.

"He won't know me, but I need to talk to him."

Lena frowned at the weirdness of this man but handed Nick the phone. "Guy sounds anxious. Says you won't know him, but he needs to talk to you."

Nick took the phone, "This is Nick Burkhardt. Who is this?"

"I'm sorry to bother you. I just need to know if you're the Police Detective." The man did sound anxious, as Lena said.

"If there's a problem, I need to know who you are," Nick said seriously.

"Yeah, there's a problem. I'm not sure it's yours. Look, you sound like you're busy. I'll call you back." He hung up before Nick could say anything. He shrugged and put the food away.

"What, he didn't want to give you his name?" Monroe asked.

Nick sat back down at the table. "I get calls like that sometimes. They get cold feet. It's probably nothing."

* * *

Lena didn't bother changing in the bathroom anymore, but Nick still turned his back to give her a little privacy. They had fallen into a rhythm and routine together. Changing for bed, brushing their teeth in the bathroom at the same time. Sliding into bed and immediately meeting in the middle.

It was nice and simple in their world when the real world was anything but. As they lied, Lena quietly said, "Tonight was really nice."

Nick had been absently stroking the hair at the top of her head. "Yeah, it was."

"Moving here, I was supposed to be solitary," she muse into his shoulder. "I was just going to focus on work, maybe help Freddy in the shop. But now… it's like I have this whole family now. It's much better. And I know it's all thanks to you, and Monroe and Rosalee. Thank you."

She tilted her head up to look at him as he smiled down at her. He cupped her face gently, brushing his thumb over her cheek, "I'm glad you came to Portland."

She leaned in to give him a sweet kiss, "I'm glad too."

* * *

The next morning, Lena made sure to stop by the shop in-between appointments. She saw a defeated looking Rosalee at the counter. She idly waved to Monroe in the other room before asking her friend what was wrong.

"I had a little pre-wedding freak out," she admitted. "Everything today just sort of piled up and I couldn't help but think that we were crazy to think we could pull off this wedding with both our families and friends and a Grimm."

"Don't forget the hybrid," Lena joked.

Rosalee smiled weakly, "I just… I have this feeling something awful is going to happen."

"Rosie," Lena cooed, taking her friend's hands. "It's normal to get pre-wedding jitters. I got them before marrying Kevin."

"You did?" she asked softly.

Lena nodded. "I was convinced that Kevin's more traditional family members would look down on me. Or one of them would not hold their peace or something. I almost convinced Kevin to just run to Vegas and elope with me."

Rosalee gasped with a smile, "You didn't!"

"I didn't succeed, obviously," Lena laughed. "Kevin talked me off the ledge every time. Whatever happens at your wedding, the most important part is getting married to the person you love. Everything else is details."

* * *

Lena was just getting home from her last appointment for the day, ready to surprise Trubel with a shopping trip to get her some fresh new clothes. Trubel deserved it after the life she'd been dealt. She was just getting in the door, "Trubel!" and setting her stuff down, when she heard a knock. Curiously, she went to open the door, seeing a man with light hair and eyes standing there nervously.

"Hi. Can I help you?" Lena asked him.

"I-I'm sorry. I don't mean to bother you. I'm looking for Nick Burkhardt," he told her.

"He's not here right now," she told him, hearing footsteps behind her and knowing Trubel was downstairs now.

"Do you know where he is?" he asked. "I really need to talk to him."

Recognizing his voice, Lena said, "You're the guy who called last night… Are you in some kind of trouble? What's your name?"

"My name's Josh," the man sighed. "It's about my dad. He made me drive him here all the way from Pennsylvania. He gave me this drawing to show Nick."

"Let's see it," Trubel said from behind her.

Josh gingerly unfolded an old looking piece of parchment and showed them the drawing. It looked just like the drawings they'd both seen in Nick's books at the trailer. And they knew what wesen it was. A Hundjager,

"Look, I'm sorry," Josh said. "This is a waste of time. I'll just tell him that I tried, you know, so..."

He started to leave but Lena gently grabbed his arm, "Wait… Josh, do you understand what this drawing is?"

She could see in his eyes that he had absolutely no idea. "My dad's had it forever. He thinks he knows what it is."

"Okay, Josh, I'm gonna call Nick," Lena said, pulling out her cell phone to call him. She waited for him to answer, but it just kept ringing until she got his voicemail. "He's not answering."

"Well, thanks for trying," Josh said. "Look, I'm sorry. I gotta get back to my father."

"Wait, Josh," Lena grabbed his arm again. "You came here for Nick?" He nodded. "Well, I have a feeling I know why your dad wanted to talk to him. But he's not the only one who can help you."

"Does your dad know Nick's a Grimm?" Trubel asked.

"Yeah, he said something like that, but... You know what that is?"

Lena and Trubel shared a look. "Take us to your dad. Now." Trubel had already started heading towards what they guessed was Josh's car.

"Hold on, why should I take you?" he asked, not moving.

"Because right now you're dealing with a Hundjager, and you don't know it," Trubel told him. "And we're the only ones who can help you right now."

"Who are you?" he asked, exasperated.

"I'm Lena, she's Trubel," Lena introduced quickly. "Let's go." They pulled him towards his car until he finally followed and got in, driving off with them.

They arrived at what looked like an abandoned warehouse of sorts. Josh stopped the car and got out, but he seemed to be regretting even taking them in the first place. "My dad's losing his mind, you know. I don't know what you think you're gonna do for him. Just... Tell him you know Nick Burkhardt and that he's not interested in any of this."

"Where's your dad?" Lena asked gently.

He gestured to the door, "Inside."

Trubel suddenly knocked him against the building, holding him there, "Are you wesen?"

He groaned, "What?"

"Trubel!" Lena chastised her.

But Trubel didn't back off, "If you're wesen and you try anything, I swear to God I'll kill you."

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about! Let me go!" Josh shouted.

The door creaked open then, being pushed by an elderly man who looked pale and tired, supporting himself on a wooden cane. "Who's this?"

"Dad!" Josh exclaimed as Trubel finally let him go.

"Where's Nick Burkhardt?" the man demanded.

"Sir, I'm Nick's girlfriend," Lena cut in, trying to defuse the situation. "Your son came to my house with a picture of a Hundjager."

He gaped at her, "You know what that is?"

"I know about wesen, I know Nick's a Grimm," Lena said. "I'm guessing you are too. But your son isn't."

The man seemed disappointed as he shook his head.

"Well, she is," Lena gestured to Trubel.

The man – Rolek, he told them later – gripped his cane tight and told them to come in. They went into the warehouse, where he led Trubel and Lena to a large old looking trunk. Trubel helped him open it up, revealing that it was full of books and weapons like Nick had in the trailer.

"Oh, my God," Trubel breathed.

"This has been in my family for a very, very long time," Rolek wheezed. "My son doesn't even know what any of this means. I'm dying. I have got to get this to Nick. Otherwise my son will destroy everything in there. He thinks that I'm... I'm crazy." Rolek started panting heavily, collapsing against the trunk and his son.

"Dad," Josh caught him as he groaned. "Okay, I'm taking you to the hospital."

"No," he protested.

"Now," Josh said, turning to the women. "Help me get him to the car."

Rolek groaned, "Don't... don't leave the trunk."

"Don't worry," Lena said. "I'll get it to Nick."

"How?" Trubel asked.

"Trust me," she said. Trubel accepted it, and Josh didn't seem to care. But Rolek eyed her. "Rolek, I know how important these things are. And how bad it would be if people like the Royals or the Verat got their hands on it. I can get it to Nick, and you need to get to the hospital. Please – trust me."

Rolek took in her serious expression, and slowly nodded. Josh and Trubel took him to the car and drove off to the hospital.

Lena took out her phone and called Georgie.

"Hey, Lena."

"Georgie, can witches teleport with a carry on?" she asked quickly.

"Big or small?" Georgie asked.

"Big and heavy," Lena eyed the trunk warily.

"Of course, you can, but it'll take a lot of concentration, knowing exactly where you're going, and you'll be pretty exhausted after," Georgie said. "Is something wrong?"

"I don't know yet, I just need to hide this big thing and I don't have my car on me," she said. "I've only teleported once, and it was in a panic when I didn't even know I could do it."

"I can walk you through it," Georgie offered. "Do you have a place in mind? Something you can picture clearly?"

Lena thought for a moment, wondering where she should take the thing. The house seemed too obvious. She would have to take it to the trailer. "Yes, I do."

"Okay, are you touching the thing?"

Lena crouched down and put her hand on the chest after shutting it. "Yes."

"You're going to close your eyes and picture the place you want to go," Georgie instructed.

Lena closed her eyes and remembered the inside of the trailer in her head from all the times she'd been there since coming to Portland.

"Take a deep breath and imagine that you're there," Georgie told her.

Lena had to take a series of deep breaths, remembering sitting on the couch, picturing herself standing in the trailer with the trunk. She shivered when she felt a gust of wind whirring around her, growing louder as it whipped into a twister and then she felt light as air. In another few minutes, she felt her knees land on the floor of the trailer and something like wood snapping. She opened her eyes and grimaced when she saw that the trunk had landed half on the table and snapped one of the legs.

"Lena?"

"I can't believe it worked," Lena breathed. She sagged on the couch, eyes drooping. "Why do I feel as if I just ran a marathon or something?"

"Teleporting with carry-ons can take it out of you," Georgie said. "You should rest up."

"Thanks for your help."

"No problem."

After hanging up, Lena set her phone down and reclined on the seat, eyes already falling shut as darkness swept over her.

* * *

Nick sat at his desk at the station after he and Hank finished talking about a new case. An old man and his son, Rolek and Josh Porter, may have killed a verat in their hotel room before fleeing the scene with a large trunk. He was running their names in the system when his phone rang.

"Burkhardt."

"Nick, it's me. I'm at St. Joseph's hospital," Trubel's voice answered.

He frowned. "Why? What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"That call you got the other night? The guy showed up with a drawing of a Hundjager. His name is Josh," Trubel explained in a hushed voice. "Not the Hundjager, the guy that showed up. I couldn't get ahold of you. So, he took me to his dad who's sick. We had to take him to the hospital. And get this: He's a Grimm."

"Josh?"

"No, his dad," she clarified. "Yeah, he's got a trunk full of weapons and Grimm books. And his son thinks he's crazy, so he has nobody to talk to... it's kind of like me... except he knows who he is. And this big trunk has been in the family for a really long time. And now that he's dying, he wants you to have it."

Nick lowered his voice, "Okay, hold on. This guy's a Grimm. Are you sure?"

"Oh, yeah. It's kinda weird, isn't it? All three of us in the same place at the same time? Except he was looking for you. Yeah, he really wants to see you. He drove all the way from Pennsylvania. Oh, and he wanted me to tell you he has a key?" Trubel didn't understand what was important about this key.

"A key? What kind of key?" Nick asked, sharing a look with Hank.

"I don't know. He just wanted to make sure I told you. Like it was really important, like... Like you were supposed to know," Trubel said, confused.

"Wait a minute. What's this guy's name?" Nick asked, staring at the hotel photo of their suspects leaving the scene of the murder.

"Rolek."

"Rolek Porter?" he asked.

"I don't know his last name."

"And the son's name is Josh?"

Hank seemed to be understanding what was going on. They never could have a normal investigation.

"Yeah."

"Are they driving a Volvo?"

Trubel paused, "How'd you know that?"

"Where's the car?"

"It's in the emergency parking lot."

"Stay with the car. We'll meet you there in ten minutes." Nick hung up and stood, grabbing his jacket. "Hank, you're not gonna believe this!"

"Trubel's with Rolek Porter and his son? How the hell did that happen?" his partner asked.

"I'll tell you on the way."

* * *

Hank and Nick quickly arrived to the hospital parking lot where Trubel was standing next to the exact Volvo they had an ABP out for today. "Make, model, and plates match," Hank said as they stopped and got out of the car.

Nick peered into the back to see nothing inside, "Where's the trunk?"

"With Lena," Trubel said.

"What?" Nick asked, more like a demand.

Trubel shrugged, "Well, she insisted that she'd take care of it. Get it to you. I assumed she was stashing it somewhere safe, but I don't know how. We rode with Josh, so she didn't have a car. But Josh's dad was bad, and she said to just trust her."

"I'm calling her," Nick hissed impatiently, pulling out his phone to dial her number. It rang out until he got her voicemail. He cursed. "She's not answering." He turned to Trubel, "Where are Josh and his dad?"

"I can take you."

"The Verrat believe he's got that trunk. He's already killed one of them. They're gonna be looking for that," Nick told his partner.

"I'll stay with the car," Hank said. "And I'll keep trying Lena."

"Thanks," Nick said as he pulled Trubel towards the hospital. She led him up to the ICU to Rolek's room.

She knocked on the door to get Josh's attention, "Hey, this is the guy that your dad wanted to meet."

"I'm, uh, Nick Burkhardt," Nick said awkwardly.

Josh stared at him. "He came all the way to see you. I think it's too late."

"Could I talk to him?" he asked.

Josh slowly nodded, "Yeah. You can try." He stood over his father and gently held his shoulder, "Dad?"

"Huh?" the old man murmured.

"Nick Burkhardt's here."

Rolek muttered under his breath, turning to Nick.

"I know you came a long way to see me, and I'm sorry it took so long. But I'm here now," Nick said quietly.

"I have to give you something," Rolek wheezed.

"Well, I know where the trunk is," he fibbed. He had to assume that it was safe with Lena. That  _she_  was safe.

"That's good," Rolek whispered weakly. "But no... There's... there's something else. Something that was given to me by my father. And his father. I couldn't do what they did." He paused, "Josh had nothing to do with the man in the hotel room. I killed him."

"He was Verrat."

Rolek sagged, "You... you saw the tattoo?"

"You know about all this?" Josh asked, wondering if everyone was crazy.

Nick nodded, "Yeah, I do."

"You can't arrest him," Rolek pleaded.

"Dad, it's okay," Josh assured his father. "The police know it was self-defense. They told me."

Nick looked up at him. He didn't know the department had gotten a hold of Josh. "Who told you?"

"Detective Donavon. He called me, he said they were on their way here," Josh said. "You didn't know that?"

"Are you sure it wasn't Detective Holtby or Bauer?" Nick asked.

Josh shook his head, "No, it was Detective Donavon."

"I have to give you the key," Rolek wheezed. "I promised my father... I would protect it and I would pass it on. But Josh isn't one of us. I had to find someone like us. And you're the only one I could... Find."

"Where is it?" Nick asked softly.

"I'll show you," he groaned, twisting in his hospital bed. "Give me my cane."

"Dad, you can't get up." Josh tried to push him back down.

"I have to get my cane." Rolek gasped as his eyes rolled back and his heart monitor started flatline.

"Dad. Dad. No, dad!" Josh panicked as a team of hospital staff swarmed over to the room.

"Clear the room. Code blue. We got a code blue."

"You have to wait outside," a nurse ushered the three of them out as a crash cart was wheeled in.

"There's no breath sounds. Start compressions."

"Right away, doctor."

"Give him an O.P.A."

Nick pulled Trubel aside, "We've got a problem. There's no Detective Donavon in the department. I need you to move that car out of here."

"All right," she agreed.

Nick walked over to Josh and told him, "If that Detective shows up, don't let him in there. Call me."

As he and Trubel made their way out, she asked, "What's up with this key he keeps talking about?"

"It's a long story," Nick spoke low and quickly. "Has to do with the crusades and a bunch of knights who were grimms who found something that they thought no one else should have, so they buried it in the black forest and made a bunch of keys that had a map that supposedly leads to where it is. That enough?"

"Good enough for now."

Nick's phone rang. He answered, power walking out of the ICU. "Hank."

"Three guys are checking out the car."

"I'm on my way."

"Leave Trubel inside. This could go bad."

Nick hung up and stopped Trubel, "Stay here. Those guys at the car, they're Verrat and they're armed, and I don't want them knowing what you are." Before he left, he asked once more time, "You're gonna stay here, right?"

"Uh-huh," she muttered. But of course, she didn't listen. Because the three Verrat were more than a handful against Nick and Hank. And Trubel definitely knew how to handle herself. Hank had almost been hit by a SUV when Nick got there to fight off the goons. Trubel did the most damage by the time the bad guys were all knocked out.

"You okay?" Nick asked Trubel once they caught their breath.

"Yeah. You?" she panted.

"Yeah, we're good."

Hank gave his partner a look, "I thought you were gonna tell her to stay inside."

"He did," Trubel said.

Nick nodded. "Good thing she didn't listen."

Trubel pulled up the hand of the guy's whose head she put through the car window and showed Nick the tattoo on his palm. "Hey, this means they're Verrat, right?"

"Yeah. You can't be here. Take this car, go home," Nick told her. "I still have to get through to Lena."

"I got this," Hank offered. "You talk to Josh and look for Lena."

"Thanks," Nick said as he made his way into the hospital. He tried calling her twice as he made his way back up to the ICU, but he got her voicemail both times.

He put his phone away when he reached the hospital room, and saw a despondent Josh sitting at his father's bedside, no machines connected to him any longer.

"He died," Josh whispered.

"I'm sorry," Nick told him. After a pause, he added, "Look, I'm sure you have a lot of questions. So why don't you just do what you have to do here and then come by my place? By the way, we've got your car. Just figured that would be a lot easier than explaining everything else. I'll have an officer pick you up when you're ready."

Josh looked at him and asked before he left, "What kind of cop are you?"

"I get asked that a lot."

* * *

Lena had no idea what time it was when her eyes finally opened. But she could see it was dark out and panicked. The others must have been worried. She cringed when she saw a long list of missed calls on her cell phone from Nick and Hank. She immediately clicked on Nick's number to call him back and let him know where she was.

"Where are you? What happened?" Nick's worried and slightly angry voice answered her.

She stifled another yawn, "I'm sorry, I'm okay. I'm at the trailer. With the trunk. Did Trubel tell you about Josh and his dad?"

"Yeah," Nick sighed. "Rolek passed away at the hospital."

"Oh no," Lena sighed.

"I thought something happened to you," Nick told her. "The Verrat want that trunk."

"I'm sorry, I passed out," she quickly explained. "They had to get Rolek to the hospital, I knew the trunk was too important to leave laying around in a parking lot. So, I took it to the trailer. But I didn't have my car. So, I teleported."

"On purpose?" Nick asked, baffled.

"There's a first time for everything," Lena said. "Georgie coached me through it."

"Okay, sit tight. I'm coming to get you," Nick said before they said their goodbyes and hung up.

Lena sat and kept herself from falling asleep again. When she heard a car outside, she peaked out the trailer window, seeing Nick getting out of Hank's car. She went to the door and ran out of the trailer and into his relieved arms. Nick hugged her tightly, reassuring himself that she was okay.

"Don't ever scare me like that again," he scolded her.

"Promise," she said, pulling away long enough to kiss him.

"Let's get the trunk to the house, we have to find the key," he said.

"Key, what key?"

As they carried the trunk and shoved it into Hank's backseat, Nick explained about keys that Grimms guarded since the Crusades, that had a map to something they hid. The Verrat wanted it badly. And since Rolek was dying and Josh wasn't a Grimm, he had to get the key to Nick.

When they got themselves and the trunk back to the house, had pretty much emptied the contents of it all over the dining room, searching for the key.

"I can't find it," Nick complained.

"Me neither," Hank said.

"If there's a key in here, I have no idea where it is," Lena shrugged.

"Nick, there is stuff in here I have never seen in any of your books," Trubel called his attention, showing him the drawing in the book she was holding. "You ever heard of an "Abartige Aasfresser"?"

"Not until now," he mused.

"You really see this stuff?" Josh asked, overwhelmed.

"I haven't seen this one yet."

"But it's all true?"

Lena looked at the scared man who'd just lost his father. "Some people just have another side to them. A beast within that they can hide. But people like Nick, Trubel, and your dad could see whether they hid or not."

"Josh, just 'cause you can't see them now, doesn't mean you won't someday. Hit me pretty late, too," Nick warned him.

"Well, at least I'll know it's real. Sort of," Josh sighed.

"I can't find this key," Hank said again.

Nick asked Josh, "Have you ever seen it?"

He shook his head. "No. All I know is he was really worried about it. Wanted to get it to someone who would understand."

"So where else could it be?"

"I don't know. I don't even know what we're looking for," Josh said.

"There's no way he left it behind in Pennsylvania," Lena thought out loud. "It had to be close to him. So, it's in here somewhere."

"When he told you about it, he was trying to get out of bed, like he was gonna show you where it was," Trubel turned to Josh, remembering the exchange in the hospital.

"It wouldn't be in that hospital room. He never got out of the bed," he told her.

"Maybe he wasn't trying to get up," she suggested.

Josh started nodding slowly, thinking about it. "He was asking for his cane." He walked over to where the old wooden cane was propped against the wall and picked it up. He handed it to Nick. "He's had this forever. He got it from his dad, who got it from his dad."

Nick inspected the cane in his hands, peering at it closely. He grabbed the handle and felt it twist. He grunted as it just popped off. "Did I break it?"

"I don't think so," Hank said, holding his hand out. "Can I see?"

Nick handed it over and Hank peered at the little metal screw sticking out of the handle. He saw a small hole at the top of the can and pushed the screw through, popping out a little metal bar. He turned the hollow can over and shook it, something dropping into his palm.

Nick picked it up, marveling at the elegantly engraved metal.

"Is that a key?" Josh asked.

"It is now," Nick said as he turned the metal sides apart, revealing the key within.

* * *

The group was silent at the spice shop while Rosalee retrieved the first key from the hidden space under the floorboard. Nick pressed the engraving into black ink and carefully pressed it next to the first ink print, creating a bigger picture of a map.

"Nick, remember that map I showed you at my house last year?" Monroe asked.

"Yeah, the one that your great-great uncle drew," he said.

"It was actually great-great-great grandfather on my mother's side. But the point is... We are definitely talking black forest."

"Germany," Trubel guessed.

"That seems to be where everything started," Lena mused.

"Well, we're one key closer to... God knows what," Monroe said.

"I wonder if we'll ever know," Rosalee wondered out loud.

"I don't think I want to know," Josh admitted. "Well, at least I know my dad wasn't crazy. Unless all of you are."

The others shared a wry look between them.

* * *

"I'm sorry I worried you today," Lena apologized again as she and Nick slipped into bed.

"It wasn't your fault," he told her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "Who knows if the Verrat would've gotten the trunk if you hadn't hidden it at the trailer. I'm impressed that you teleported on command though."

"It drained the hell out of me," she said, resting her chin on his chest to look at him. "Now, I feel like I've just slept for ten hours."

Nick chuckled.

Lena quieted for a moment, before shifting up so she could plant her lips on his. He answered her languidly, cupping her face. She trailed her hand along his soft cotton shirt covering his chest and stomach, squeezing his side.

He grunted, pulling his lips back as he asked, "What are you doing?"

She gave him a look, "I know it's been a while…"

"No, I mean… are you sure?" he asked seriously, looking into her eyes.

She smiled softly at him, "Extremely. You?"

He answered her this time with the most passionate kiss he'd ever given her.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic begins at the middle of Blood for Pain, and has a way to go before catching up with the next installment, Blood for Hurt.


End file.
